Fallout: Road to Salvation
by Journeyman-93
Summary: The prequel to Annihilation and sequel to A handful of dust. A year after going on a near suicidal mission for the NCR, Mark, Emily, Ghost, Mara and Jin decide to leave California and join a caravan travelling to the distant settlement of Salvation. Many challenges and troubles await them on their long journey. Rated M for blood, guts, swearing and possible sexual references.
1. The hitchhikers

_**I expect that a few readers will be asking how exactly the Misfits reached Canada. Well, here's how. For the sake of timing, a few days or weeks might be skipped, but I will make a story out of this.**_

_**Nobody complain about the character details if you already know them, new readers might come across this and not know them.**_

* * *

_"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."_

_Winston Churchill_

* * *

_"War ravages the world, even after war has ravaged it once already. People squabble and kill over the ruins of the old world, some cling to what is left and others attempt to forge a new world to live in. _

_The fight for survival will never cease, it began long before the Great War of 2077. _

_A year after their fight in the Mojave and Nevada, against Caesar's Legion and the Enclave, five wanderers prepare to seek a new life far north of California. A former soldier, a vault dweller, a Ghoul, a mechanic and a tribal, all brought together by circumstance and fate. Despite their differences, the Mojave and their struggles forced them to change and bond to survive. _

_A year after destroying Area 51, the five misfits intend to join a caravan heading north to the distant settlement of Salvation. They expect trouble, but what they encounter may well be beyond their expectations."_

* * *

"This is…" The red faced man quivered with indignant and barely restrained anger.

"Bad?" A man wearing spectacles asked.

"Fucking bullshit!" The red faced man finished. "Why the hell does the NCR want us to go to Salvation?"

"Because they need the money." A woman strode up to them and shoved a map into the red faced man's chest, knocking back a few steps. "Shift it, Walter, we're leaving in ten."

"Whatever, Boss." Walter tucked the map away and gesticulated at the spectacled man to move. "Stupid, stupid, stupid. Should've got that job in New Reno when I had the fucking chance."

"New Reno's awful." The man with spectacles stated. "It's nothing but hookers and shit."

"Shut your trap, Fred." Walter snarled. "Just get on with it." He paused to light a cigarette, hoping the nicotine would calm him down. "And you're talking about the Den."

Fred dropped the box he was carrying, but it never hit the ground.

A pair of withered hands shot out and grabbed it. "Here."

Fred took the box back. He froze when he saw who had saved him from Walter's foul temper.

A ghoul, with cracked dead skin. He still had eyes that looked human, although they were a very pale blue. He was wearing dark leather armour, with several pouches, and had a battered sniper rifle slung across his back.

Fred stammered at him, not able to find the words.

"Am I the first ghoul you've seen?" The ghoul inquired was a rasping voice. "Don't worry, smoothskin, I'm not contagious."

"He's not big on formalities either." A man with Asian features announced. He had tanned skin and cropped hair, with a grubby bandana around his head. He was wearing metal armour, with the arm from a T51-B suit attached to the right arm. "I'm Jin," he told Fred. "This is Ghost."

"Who are you guys?" Fred asked shakily.

"We're just tagging along with your caravan." Jin explained. "We're going to Canada, Salvation's pretty close."

"Felt like a change of pace." Ghost added. "I need a drink."

"We haven't started yet." Jin said.

"Whatever, I need a drink."

"Come on then." Jin walked off with Ghost, heading towards the front of the convoy.

"Did you know about them?" Fred asked Walter as he tied the box to the brahmin's harness.

"Yeah, they swanned in like they owned the bloody caravan." Walter puffed out smoke. "Damn mercs. The NCR likes 'em for some reason, so they let 'em tag along. I've never seen guys like these, they're weird."

"They have a… ghoul."

"Yeah, that too." Walter tossed away his cigarette. "Damn zombies."

"Hey," the voice was new, and now Fred guessed that it belonged to one of the strangers.

He was right. A man wearing the sort of trench coat an NCR ranger would wear was standing there. He was Caucasian, with brown hair and a serious look in his eyes, the kind Fred had seen in veteran NCR soldiers' eyes.

"What?" Walter scowled.

"There's a difference between Ghost and the ferals." The man stated. "Remember that."

Walter sized him up, taking note of the assault carbine hanging by the man's side and the 9mm at his waist.

"That zombie your friend?"

"Ease up, Mark." The ghoul, Ghost, had returned. He tossed Mark a beer and opened his own. "I can cope with the crap. It's a long road to Salvation; let's avoid killing each other for now."

"Agreed." Mark nodded. "We seem to have got off on the wrong foot." He extended his hand. "Mark Kelson."

Walter didn't shake his hand. He muttered and shook his head, turning away.

"His name is Walter Hendricks," Fred shook Mark's hand instead. "I'm Fred, Fred Boles." He glanced at Ghost. "Sorry, I'm really not used to ghouls."

"I'm housetrained." Ghost stated simply.

"So," Mark screwed the cap back onto his beer and stuffed it into his satchel. "When are the escorts joining us?"

"I thought we were the escorts." Ghost shrugged.

"We're hitchhiking, remember?" Mark reminded him. "Dunn said that he was sending some NCR soldiers along to Salvation."

"Better than mercs I guess." Ghost spotted somebody walking, more like skipping, and produced a Nuka-Cola. "Here, I got some."

A young woman, a year shy of twenty, with auburn hair tied back in a ponytail, smiled and took the bottle. She had pale skin, despite the sun, and freckles. She was wearing a blue vault suit with the yellow numbers one-one-seven on the back; she had added pouches, holsters and armour to it. There was a scoped laser rifle, which looked like a custom build, slung across her back. What really cemented her identity as a former vault dweller was the Pip-Boy on her left arm.

"Thanks, Ghost." She beamed.

"Take it slow." Ghost told her. "Our supplies are limited on this trip, and I've seen you hyped on drinks."

"Yeah, that was… memorable." Mark smiled.

Emily blushed. "I wasn't that bad."

"It probably doesn't help that Jin added some booze to your drink." Ghost recalled. "That's why I drink out of the bottle, and keep it close to me."

Emily stared for a moment. "I was _drunk_?"

"Straight to your head," Mark answered. "I had to carry you out." He noticed Fred watching them with fascination. "Yes?"

Fred shook his head, mostly out of disbelief, and walked off. He had some serious doubts about the strange people who had turned up to "hitchhike" with the caravan.

When the Leatherback Caravan, a small outfit operating out of California, had accepted a job from the NCR to reach Salvation, in Montana, five weird mercs had suddenly appeared and had volunteered to aid them. Apparently they wanted to reach Canada.

"Problem?"

Fred shrugged as he passed a woman in her early twenties. She shrugged in response.

Lily Green was another guard for the caravan. She was tall and willowy, with long brown hair and hazel eyes. She was wearing a combat vest over her plaid shirt and had finished the outfit with patched denim jeans and half gloves. She had a Steyr AUG assault rifle across her back and a Sig-Sauer P226 pistol holstered at her waist.

"Those guys," Fred said. "Weird."

"Maybe," Lily casually tugged out her Sig-Sauer out and checked the safety. "But they're experienced, the NCR likes 'em, and they've got some decent firepower."

"One of them is younger than you."

"So what?" Lily raised an eyebrow. "You're young."

The truck she was loading sputtered and the engine died. Lily swore quietly and went to open the bonnet. They had four old trucks, quicker than brahmin, but even more temperamental and expensive to maintain.

Before Lily reached the bonnet though, another stranger walked up to it and simply thumped it. The truck's engine coughed into life again.

"How'd you do that?" Lily inquired.

"It's a little trick I learned when I was a kid. I'm Mara Lanning." The woman answered.

"Lily Green." Lily shook Mara' hand. Mara was dark skinned, with short black hair and dark eyes. She looked tough; her appearance was helped by her combat armour and the Mossberg 590 pump-action shotgun she was carrying. Lily eyed Mara's 44 Magnum enviously.

"Not for sale." The woman said, noticing Lily's glance at her sidearm. "You've got decent guns anyway."

"I know." Lily glanced at her Sig-Sauer, which looked much smaller now. "But that's a forty-four, mine's only a nine millimetre."

"Mark's never complained about his." Mara told her. "Yes, the guy in the long coat, he still uses a nine millimetre Browning, but he insists that it hasn't let him down yet." She could still see a slightly jealous look on Lily's face. "If it makes you feel better; it costs a lot to buy bullets for my pistol, they're harder to find."

Lily shrugged in response. "I know people who would kill for a forty-four."

"I did." Mara said casually. "But it was him or me, and I didn't want to leave a perfectly good gun behind."

Lily was about to speak again when Walter shouted for her to help him with a heavy crate.

She excused herself, her parents had been keen on teaching her manners, and found Walter wrestling with a large wooden box that seemed to be putting up a fight.

"What…" Walter tried to grunt as they lifted it together. "What… the… hell is in… this… thing?"

They finally hoisted it up on top of the other crates in the truck and Lily climbed up to secure it with a tether.

"Ask the boss." Lily said. "It's not our business to know."

Walter picked up his FN FAL and grimaced. "First we get cargo the boss won't talk about, now we've got those guys."

"Don't complain." Lily told him. "They're on our side, they've got decent guns. I hear one of them has got a laser."

"You heard right."

"Wattz 2000 or one of those AER-9s?"

"The latter, but it looked custom." Walter sounded bored. "Just a kid."

"Sorry?"

"The girl with it, I swear she's just a kid."

Lily peered down at Walter and frowned. "I'm not old either."

Walter jerked a thumb to his left and Lily saw who he was talking about. He had a point; the girl in the armoured vault suit looked about eighteen or nineteen.

"I've seen younger people toting guns." Lily said.

Walter grunted and leaned against the wagon. Lily grabbed the tether as it shifted.

"Walter…"

"Don't say it." Walter growled.

"Maybe cut back on the brahmin steaks a little." Lily suggested as nicely as she could.

Walter glanced up at her, angry. He was not fat, but he wasn't far from it either.

Lily kept her mouth shut and developed a sudden interest in securing the ropes and tethers as slowly as she could until Walter moved on to hassle Fred.

The Boss took a while to turn up with the NCR escorts and the rest of the guards. In that time, the ghoul vanished and came back with a dead mole-rat.

"Hardly gourmet, I know." Ghost said as he dumped the carcass. "But it'll save some of our rations."

"Mmm, haute cuisine." Mara muttered sarcastically. "I like mine well done."

Mark watched from the back of the fourth and last truck as the escorts arrived. There were only three NCR soldiers, but the Leatherbacks had plenty of guards. Now they really had a motley collection of firearms.

Jill Park, the leader of the caravan, glanced at him. She was an African American woman, with a fierce disposition if anybody got on her bad side. Her MP5 was clanking against her armour as it swung on its strap.

Mark gave her a courteous nod and went back to cleaning the barrel of his carbine.

"Any friends of yours?" Emily pointed at the NCR soldiers walking towards them.

"I didn't really have any friends in the NCR." Mark answered. "Mind you, Hsu wasn't so bad."

The three soldiers stopped at the back of the truck. Mark could feel the eyes boring into him and looked up from his disassembled weapon.

The highest ranking soldier was a large man, muscular and imposing. There was a Caucasian man with him and an Asian woman. They were all armed, the big man had an M60 light machinegun and the two soldiers with him had the familiar standard issue service rifles most NCR soldiers used.

"Hello," Emily waved at them cheerily.

"You're NCR." The big man spoke to Mark, ignoring Emily.

"I was." Mark said. "Problem?"

"I'm Sergeant Vasquez," the man growled. "I know who you are, Kelson."

"Funny, I thought they'd burnt my records."

"Not all of them."

"I guess you were right about the friends thing." Emily whispered.

"Friend of yours?" The Private peered at Emily. "Single?"

"Stow it, Morin." Vasquez ordered. "Kelson, you keep your gun well away from these people and I won't shoot you."

Mark put down the carbine barrel and hopped down to the ground, so that he stood face-to-face with Vasquez.

"Let me be clear, Vasquez," Mark growled. "You leave my friends alone, get them through this alive, or there'll be hell to pay, and my reputation will be the least of your problems. Are we clear?"

Vasquez didn't budge. "Don't push me, Kelson."

"Mark," Emily hopped down and put her hand on Mark's shoulder. "Don't."

Mark resisted the urge to reach for his sidearm. Instead, he tore his glare away from Vasquez, picked up the parts of his carbine, and walked away with Emily.

"Great start to the day." Mark muttered.

"Problem?" Jin looked up from the engine he was tinkering with.

"Just some NCR jerks." Mark shrugged.

"The usual then." Jin went back to the engine. "Another reason to punch Dunn when we see him again."

"I only punch well when I'm drunk." One of the caravan guards announced. Peter Webb was gangly, with hair down to his neck and a laidback attitude. Of all the weapons he could have chosen he had picked up an old MP-40, which was slung across his back.

"Take a few tips from me then," Jin advised. "And then you'll knock out more than their teeth."

"It also helps if you have a power-fist." Emily added. She glanced at Mark. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Mark told her. "As long as I steer clear of Vasquez."

"Who's Vasquez?" Jin asked.

"An NCR Sergeant."

"Well, Jill offered us a place on the first truck. The second and third are for cargo, the others get the fourth." Jin explained. "All of the guns are in the first one."

"I'm still wondering about what we're carrying." Emily murmured. "I think there's some food, but surely that wouldn't last all the way to Salvation."

"I know how curious you get, Emily, but it's none of our business." Jin told her.

"We have a deal, don't we?" Webb still looked laidback, but his eyes had narrowed slightly.

"Yes, we do." Mark answered. "Jin, we'll see you in the first truck."

"Fine by me." Jin stuck a screwdriver into the engine. "Looks like I'm a mechanic again. Who built these engines?"

Mara was dozing when they clambered into the back of the truck. One of the caravan guards was with her, and she looked a little put out.

"I didn't know that I was so boring." She muttered.

"She didn't get much sleep last night." Ghost rasped.

"A date?"

"I just couldn't sleep." Mara murmured as she opened her eyes. "Don't know why. Sorry, Gabby."

"At least I'm not boring." Gabby shrugged. She was in her thirties, with tanned skin and short dark hair. She was plainly dressed, apart from an expensive leather jacket that she had recovered from a ruined shop and she was armed with an MP5 like Jill. Most of the Leatherbacks used weapons they had picked up from Californian impounds and bases and even archives and museums, hence their odd assortments.

Gabby Pike was a veteran with the Leatherbacks, and had seen off her fair share of raiders. Sitting next to her was "Lucky" Johnny Jones, who, as his name suggested, seemed to have very good luck. He was also wearing a slightly mutated lucky rabbit's foot around his neck. He was also proud of his pre-war hat, which sat jauntily on his head. He was cradling a SPAS-12 shotgun in his lap. It looked like a weapon that would give Mara's Mossberg a run for its money, but Mark knew that the SPAS-12 was much heavier.

Fred was sitting next to him, having selected a much smaller MP5K from the crates of weapons in the truck. They didn't have much, mostly sub-machineguns and a few shotguns. That explained why they had been keen to have Mark and his friends with them, they had extra firepower and plenty of experience.

The NCR soldiers occupied the fourth truck, along with Fred and two guards Mark did not know. At least Vasquez had stopped bothering him.

Jill clanked up to the tailgate and looked in on them. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Mark nodded. "We're set."

"Great, now we can start." Jill walked away and they heard her climb into the truck's cabin. "Let's roll."

The truck jerked and coughed along the sandy path. Apart from the open back and a small window into the cabin, they had no view.

Emily was excited about the trip; she was currently tracking their progress on her Pip-Boy. Jill had also been keen to hire them because of that little device, it made navigation much easier.

"So," Jin leant back and put his arms behind his head like a pillow. "How far to Salvation?"

"Days," Emily answered happily. "Maybe a few weeks. It's on the Canadian border."

"That long?"

"This is exciting, isn't it?"

"Makes a change." Ghost shrugged. "Better than walking all the way."

"Are there any radio stations around here?" Mara asked.

"California Radio at the moment." Emily answered. "Why?"

"I wouldn't mind some music."

Emily pressed a few buttons and jazz music filled the back of the truck. Nobody complained, so it stayed on.

Mark glanced at the crates of guns and suddenly had a thought. "Are we expecting trouble?"

"Of course we are." Gabby answered, slotting bullets into her MP5's magazine, as if she wanted to add emphasis or dramatic effect. "There are wild animals, mutants, bandits and worse on the way." She loaded the magazine into her gun and leaned forwards almost conspiratorially. "Caravans have been disappearing along the road to Salvation. They say that there's a new gang out there, one to rival the Great Khans."

"Well then," Mara patted her shotgun. "We're ready for them."

Ghost took a quick look at his rifle. Mark still marvelled at its ability to work even though it was nicked, scratched and battered. Ghost somehow managed to not only keep it working but also deadly accurate.

As the trucks rattled and rumbled along, Mark couldn't help but a feel a slightly queasy sense of unease. Emily looked up from her map and smiled at him, banishing his unease temporarily. Fred was even more nervous than any of them, or all of them put together.

"I spy…" Jin began.

"If you start playing that game, I'll throw you out of the truck." Mara warned. "Has nobody told you that it's the most boring game ever?"

"Worth a try." Jin shrugged. "What do we all want right now?"

"Beer." Ghost answered.

"Penthouse suite." Mara said. "And we could probably afford one if we put our caps together."

"Nuka-Cola." Emily smiled.

"A peaceful trip to Salvation." Mark shrugged. "And you, Jin? I can guess."

Jin smirked. "A pretty girl." He glanced at Lily when he said that.

"Some things never change."

* * *

_**Reviews would be appreciated as usual. Sorry about the gun details, but I would like to add a little realism and classic **_**Fallout **_**elements, as the old games named their weapons.**_

_**Due to time constraints and issues, expect updates once or twice (if I'm lucky) a week.**_


	2. No rest for the wicked

The first day of the trip was uneventful. They stopped at night, forming a circle with the trucks. They ate and slept in the trucks, Ghost usually went out to hunt, and a latrine was dug outside of the camp.

Jill insisted that Ghost should have someone to back him up, so he reluctantly selected backup whenever he left the camp. Mark knew that he was more than capable of looking after himself, but having backup made sense.

There was little to find in the open sandy spaces, and Ghost tried not to waste bullets. They were mostly kept on watch, the teams changed in timed cycles.

The problem was that they were exposed and in the open. Ghost eventually decided to stick around and use his scope to watch out for threats from afar. Everybody else had to make do with a pair of battered and grimy binoculars.

The NCR soldiers kept their distance from Mark and his friends, until Jin invited the two Privates to take part in a friendly card game that night. They learned that one of them was called Alex Morin, who was new to the NCR and eager to fight. The other one was Li Chang, who had spent two months in California with the local NCR garrison, and like Morin had not seen any action. Vasquez was apparently a veteran who had fought against raiders and Caesar's Legion. Nobody bothered to ask Vasquez himself whether this was true, he scared most of them.

"Emily, you still have a lousy poker face." Jin stated as he put down his cards.

"It's still fun to try." Emily laid down her losing hand.

"Guys!" Ghost called. He was sitting on the roof of one of the cargo trucks, his eye to his scope. "Something's heading towards us."

"What does it look like?" Lily asked.

"Difficult to say at this range." Ghost answered. "Hang on a sec," he paused. "People. At least ten of them."

"Armed?" Mark picked up his carbine.

The question was answered by a distant crack. The people running towards them were firing their guns into the air, trying to intimidate them but only wasting their bullets.

"Defensive formation!" Jill shouted, grabbing her MP5. "Fire on my order."

They faced the incoming threat, guns aimed and safeties off. Vasquez had deployed his M60's bipod on the bonnet of one of the trucks.

"Watch the flanks." Vasquez reminded them.

"Ghost?" Jill prompted.

"In range." Ghost responded. "I'll give them a warning shot."

His rifle spat. The raiders couldn't hear it, but they paused as the bullet hit the ground very close to them.

They didn't pause for long though, they continued to charge.

"Open fire!" Jill barked.

The air was filled around them was filled with the sound of gunfire and their tracers lit up the dusty ground as they flew. Vasquez' machinegun was the loudest gun present, the bullet casings clattering across the truck's bonnet only added to the racket. Stabs of red light flashed out into the night, the shots from Emily's laser rifle were hardly subtle but they were very deadly.

Mark saw the raiders begin to fall. They continued to fire in short bursts until all of them were down.

"Got 'em!" Jin declared.

"Mark, take some guys and check them." Jill ordered.

"Emily, Mara, Fred, with me." Mark instructed. He moved out carefully, with his carbine up, followed closely by his allies.

The raiders were all sprawled out on the dusty ground, which was sucking up their blood greedily.

One of them groaned and lifted a handgun. Mara didn't give him the chance to fire it.

The blast of the shotgun startled Fred. The spray of gore startled him even more and Emily had to calm him down quickly before he panicked.

The fact that Emily, who was the youngest one in the caravan, was somehow no stranger to bloodshed disturbed him too. Even so, he didn't talk about that and worried more about the execution he had just witnessed.

"You _shot _him!" Fred whimpered.

"He had a gun." Mara stated.

"But he was wounded!"

"So? All animals are deadlier when they're desperate." Mara glared at him. "Even if he'd had a nutfruit stuffed down his trousers, you don't take chances. Understand?"

Fred didn't speak or move.

Mara had a good point, and raiders were not people you took chances with. Some of them were so stoned on chems that they would resort to punching and biting people if they had no weapons.

They checked the bodies; the silence was shattered twice by Mara as she finished off two more raiders.

"That's all of them." Mara announced.

Mark took a look at the weapons that Emily had gathered. The raiders had been poorly armed; their armaments had ranged from a few lead pipes, knives and a couple of Chinese pistols to a pair of battered assault rifles and one double barrelled shotgun.

"We'll take their guns and ammo." Mark decided. "Leave the knives."

"I wouldn't want those rusty pieces of crap anyway." Mara kicked one aside. "I suppose we could sell the guns. Reckon Jin can fix them up?"

"Maybe." Emily shrugged. "Some of them look too rusty to fire."

Fred was still in shock over Mara executing the wounded raiders as they walked back to the caravan. By now the trucks were lined up and ready to go.

"They're dead." Mara stated. "Jin, we've got some toys for you."

"Lovely," Jin grinned. "It's not my birthday, but I won't complain."

"What's wrong with Fred?" Lily frowned. "Fred? Are you hurt?"

Fred gave Mara a wary glance, as if he was afraid that she would turn her still smoking shotgun on him.

"He's upset because I killed some raiders." Mara answered for him. "It's the rule of the Wasteland, get used to it."

Fred didn't reply. He seemed to be scared of Mara. She could be a little intimidating but she wasn't evil.

"We're done here. The gunfire will attract attention." Jill decided. "Pack up and load up, we're out of here."

They piled into the trucks. Jin picked up one of the raiders' assault rifles and began to tinker with it.

The first truck rumbled into life, the second coughed a bit and the third… didn't start at all.

The engine whined and whirred, but it refused to work.

The driver of the truck gave up and jogged up to the cabin of the first truck.

"The engine's out." The driver reported. "We're not moving."

"Let me take a look at it." Jin hopped out of the truck. "I have the magic touch with machines."

"Everybody out. Again." Jill ordered, sounding irritated. "I knew we shouldn't have bought these junk piles."

Jin opened the bonnet of the broken down truck and began to fiddle with the engine. "What do these things run on?"

"Nukes." Lily explained. "Macro-fusion cells."

"Great, so we can't use Emily's spare micro-fusion cells as spares." Jin muttered. "This might take a few moments."

The first bullet pinged off one of the trucks. The second hit the windscreen of the first truck and went straight through.

"Incoming!" Walter bellowed.

"Who the fuck was on watch?" Jill yelled.

"Not me." Ghost lifted his rifle and fired. "Jin, get that thing running."

"Working on it," Jin fumbled around with a wrench. "Keep them off me!"

"Lily, cover his back!" Jill shouted before firing at the incoming hostiles.

Lily stayed close to Jin, frequently putting her eye to her AUG's scope and firing short bursts.

Mark's carbine clicked and the bolt locked open. "I'm out!"

Emily moved up and provided covering fire as Mark reloaded. Ghost was calmly picking off targets.

More bullets were pinging off the trucks.

"Don't let them blow these things up!" Vasquez bellowed.

"We're dead if they do!" Walter added. His FAL clicked empty and he reloaded, swearing as the magazine refused to go in for a moment.

"Coming in close!" Jill warned.

"Excellent," Johnny lifted his shotgun. "Webb, Mara, we're up. And my SPAS is better than your Mossberg."

"We'll see," Mara shouldered her gun and took aim. "Open up!" Her shotgun boomed.

Johnny switched his shotgun to semi-automatic fire and let loose. Webb's MP-40 chattered and filled the air ahead with lead.

"I think I've got it!" Jin yelled over the gunfire.

"Pack it up!" Jill shouted. "We are leaving!"

Jin slammed the bonnet shut and ran for the first truck, firing his pistol as he went.

Jill mowed down a raider before climbing into the cabin of the truck. "Go!"

No response.

She realised that the driver was dead; several bullets were lodged in his chest.

Ghost opened the door, saw the problem, and yanked the body out before climbing into the cabin. "Hold onto this." He shoved his rifle into Jill's hands. "Everybody on?"

"We're on," Mark banged on the window behind their heads. "Go!"

Ghost put the truck into gear and put the pedal to the metal. The truck lurched across the dust, followed by the others. Bullets were still hitting them.

Ghost tugged out his pistol and fired at a few raiders. There was more gunfire coming from behind them, the guards and the others were firing at the raiders as they rumbled away.

The gunfire slowly died down. They were clear.

"Sweet Jesus!" Jill breathed. "That was too close."

"It _was_ for your driver." Ghost grunted. "Is everybody okay back there?"

"We've got some flesh wounds," Mark called. "Fred's been hit. Slow down a bit, Emily can't help him at this speed."

Ghost eased the speed down a little.

"Where did you learn to drive?" Jill asked.

"Navarro, years ago." Ghost answered. "Looks like I still know what to do."

"And how old are you?" Jill frowned.

"About as old as I look." Ghost answered. "Pretty damn old."

* * *

Fred was yelling incomprehensibly as Emily missed the bullet again.

"Please calm down," she told him. "It's not fatal; I need you to stay still. Mark, search my bag for some med-x."

Mark rummaged around inside her medical bag and plucked out a syringe. Emily took it and quickly injected it into Fred's undamaged arm.

Fred went quiet and limp. This time, Emily managed to pluck out the bullet and somehow, despite the truck bouncing around, managed to sew up the wound.

"He'll be fine." She assured Lily, who looked worried.

Mark was almost used to seeing Emily with bloody hands, she was their medic, but it was still a strange sight.

"Mark, let me have a look." Emily requested.

Mark held out his arm. Luckily, the bullet had just grazed his forearm and all Emily had to do was apply antiseptic and a bandage.

Finally, after dealing with a couple of gashes on Gabby's arm, she was done.

"So, whose shotgun is better?" Mara asked. "I got six."

"Let's call it a draw." Johnny shrugged.

"We're all good here." Mark called.

Ghost must have heard, because the truck sped up again.

"One day in and we've already been through one gunfight." Jin surmised. "Somehow I'm not surprised."

"We lost our driver." Mara added. "Could have been worse, I suppose."

"Ammo check." Mark prompted.

They all checked their magazines and spares quickly. They had plenty of ammo in the truck, and still plenty to carry.

The trucks rattled along for a few hours without incident, until the third one hit a rock and damaged its exhaust.

Jin seemed to be fed up with it as he lay on his back and tried to fix the damage.

"Looks like our new boy took his first shot." Walter observed. "How'd he take it?"

Emily looked a little baffled. "Like he'd been shot, what did you expect?"

Mark became aware of somebody behind him and turned to see Vasquez standing behind him.

"So, you survived." The big man growled.

"Did you expect anything else?" Mara challenged. "We've faced worse than Caesar's Legion. Raiders are just pests."

"You're cocky, aren't you?"

"I wouldn't pick a fight with Mara, Vasquez." Mark warned him. "She tends to scare people shitless, even before she shoots them."

"I do my best." Mara smirked.

Vasquez stomped off. Chang didn't follow him; she was hanging around and looking a little troubled.

"Kelson," she ventured carefully. "I uh… I killed somebody today, my first."

"And you feel bad about it?" Mark guessed.

Li nodded slowly.

"I'd be worried if you didn't." Mark told her. "I still remember my first. Look, you'll get used to it after a while, but you don't have to feel good about it. It's kill or be killed out here, okay?"

Li nodded slowly again. "Okay." She walked away, probably to think about everything that had happened.

Emily smiled at Mark, but whatever she had to say was interrupted by a yelp.

"That'll be Fred." Emily muttered. "My needlework isn't that bad."

"It's excellent." Mark assured her. "He's probably trying to pull them out."

Emily sighed. "I only have so many stiches. If he pulls them out…"

* * *

Jin chucked the spanner out from under the truck and wiped the sweat off his brow. "Wrench please." He realised that no wrench was coming. "Hey, Ghost, wrench!"

The wrench appeared next to his hand. Jin glanced down and saw that it was Lily who was handing him the tool.

"Thanks," he gave her a warm smile.

"Ghost is on watch." Lily explained. "Jill's putting a lot of faith in his eyes."

"If he can see it, he can shoot it, and he's got sharp eyes." Jin began to reattach the exhaust. "What brings a pretty girl like you into this line of work?"

"The chance to travel, meet new people, a few caps." Lily answered. "What about you?"

"About the same, I guess. Nothing left for me in Freeside."

"You're from New Vegas?"

"Born and raised on the outskirts. I've been inside once or twice; we had some R and R there after this big mission in the Mojave and Nevada."

"Wow!" Lily sounded pretty impressed.

"What about you?"

"Well, I was born and raised on the brahmin drives across California. You could say that this line of work runs in my blood."

"Being a fixer runs in mine, but punching people in the face doesn't."

"Shooting people doesn't run in mine."

"Probably only runs in Mara's."

"Mara's the one with the shotgun, yes?"

"Yeah, she's not so scary once you get to know her."

"Are you two… together?" Lily asked.

"No, she's not my type and I'm not her type." Jin answered. "No, we've only got one couple among us: Mark and Emily."

"I thought they seemed pretty close." Lily said.

"Is there a hammer over there?"

Lily passed it to him. Jin whacked the exhaust a few times and threw the hammer and wrench out before pushing himself out. "That's done. I think."

"You've got dirt on your nose." Lily gestured at her own nose.

"No surprise." Jin rubbed his nose. "We'd better get going before somebody else shoots at us."

* * *

Truck three rattled along without complaint after Jin's repairs. Nevertheless, they slowed down just in case things started to fall off. Ghost was still driving the first truck. They had decided to take the driving seats in turns. It turned out that Mark, Jin, Mara, Lily, Jill and Vasquez could also drive, they had no shortage of potential drivers if Ghost was tired.

The trouble was that there weren't enough working vehicles for driving lessons, the four trucks they had were incredibly valuable in the post-apocalyptic world, even if they kept breaking down and had been converted to run on a rare kind of fuel cell.

Despite that, Mark made a mental note to teach Emily how to drive at some point. She'd love it, even if she broke the bumper, she was funny like that.

Despite the gunfight, they would soon be in Nevada. They still had to travel through Nevada and Idaho. Both were exceedingly dangerous, but they decided not to worry about the two states until they reached them.

Ghost, feeling tired, eventually conceded defeat and gave the wheel to Mark. Emily insisted on being the passenger, mostly to provide navigation and to let Jill sleep.

Jin had to take over the wheel of the second truck, before the driver fell asleep at the wheel. They began to change drivers more frequently to give others a chance to rest.

"Didn't Jill say that we are supposed to stop in New Reno?" Mark asked.

"Yes," Emily held out her Pip-Boy. Mark could see a dotted line marking a route as the crow flew to New Reno. There was an arrow over the settlemet.

"It's a good thing you're here." Mark told her.

"Because of my maps?"

"There's that," Mark shrugged. "And you're good company."

Emily laughed. "I thought you'd say that."

"It's true." Mark wasn't lying. Emily often lightened the mood, even if she didn't mean to. "Em?"

"Hmm?"

"Jin's worried about these trucks running out of fuel; apparently they run on macro-fusion cells."

"If we have to, we could bundle up my micro-fusion cells to make an improvised fuel cell."

"You reckon that would work?"

"It should do, at least for a while. I could borrow a gun if we have to use my cells for fuel." Emily said. "I mean, in theory, macro-fusion cells are just much larger versions of micro-fusion cells, similar principle but on a bigger scale and with much more power. If I jury rigged say… ten of my cells, they should produce almost as much power."

Mark was just about managing to follow her. "Emily, has anybody ever told you that you're a genius?"

"Well, they did say that my IQ was one-hundred and fifty-four back in the vault." Emily said, sounding a little embarrassed.

"I'm not surprised." Mark chuckled. "Well, I can add that to your list of qualities. Cute, clever, funny, and cheerful and now a genius, the list goes on."

"Well, you did marry me."

"Yes, I did." Mark glanced at the rings on their fingers. "I don't regret it for a moment."

Emily smiled fondly at him. "Neither do I."

* * *

In the back of the truck, Jin was stuck between sleep and staying awake. Ghost was snoring near the front and the cold air was seeping into the truck, despite the lowered tarpaulin at the back.

The only light in the truck came from a torch that had been tied to a metal bar above their heads. It was swaying madly as the truck shuddered and bounced along.

The others were, somehow, sleeping. Jin was trying to fix an old pistol they had taken from the first raider team. He was having little luck, the barrel was almost completely corroded and the trigger mechanism was about to fall apart.

"You can't sleep?"

Jin realised that he was no longer alone in being awake.

Lily had just sat up, bleary eyed but still pretty in his eyes.

"No rest for the wicked." Jin shrugged, the movement caused the trigger mechanism to finally give up its struggle and fall to bits. "Maybe I should call it a day."

"Well, you could tell me about New Vegas."

"I could, and I will." Jin smiled at her. "It's a noisy place, very flashy, but there's no place quite like it. Forget what they say about New Reno being similar, it's not even close."

"I can believe that." Lily nodded. "You said that you were on R and R in Vegas."

"Yeah, we spent a couple of weeks there before we moved out to California." Jin explained. "That was a year ago."

"This may be a one-way trip, why risk leaving California?"

"Because it's dangerous out here for us, we've made a lot of enemies." Jin shrugged. "They haven't said as much, but I know that Mark and Emily want to settle down at some point."

"Enemies?"

"Caesar's Legion, the Enclave Remnants, a few NCR guys, even the Followers of the Apocalypse and the Brotherhood of Steel dislike us for blowing up some tech, we've been busy."

"So Salvation is a clean slate for you guys?"

"That or Canada." Jin said. "I guess that you'll continue to work with the caravans."

"I can't be a rolling stone forever." Lily muttered. "I'll stop one day, maybe in Salvation."

"You might as well make the most of life while you're young, pretty and free."

Lily smiled, her eyes twinkling. "Are you flirting with me, Jin?"

"I seem to be."

Lily giggled.

"Jin, people are trying to sleep here." Ghost grumbled.

"Killjoy." Jin muttered. "Later then?"

"Fine by me." Lily accepted with a warm smile.

"Just don't get busy in the truck while we're in it." Mara mumbled. "I have a shotgun."


	3. An example

The third and fourth days passed without incident, apart from Mark falling asleep at the wheel of the second truck and accidentally ramming the first.

After Jin had mended the bumpers, they pressed on to the border of California. Nevada was in sight now.

They stopped within sight of the border, to organise a scouting party to check the road ahead.

As expected, Mark was picked to lead it. He didn't draw straws for who would follow him.

"The old team back together, Boss?" Ghost smirked. "Why not?"

"Take Walter and Gabby with you too." Jill instructed. "Gabby is a good scout, Walter's a good shot."

"Fine, we'll head out right away." Mark checked his carbine. "Try to keep quiet guys; we don't want to attract attention."

Mark led them across the sand wiry shrubs to the nearest high ground, which was a jagged rock pile. It wasn't difficult for them to climb, although Walter had some trouble following them.

"Lose some weight, Walter." Gabby advised.

"Shove off, Pike." Walter grimaced.

Ghost was the first one to reach the top, and he did not look pleased by what he saw.

"Well then?" Mark prompted as he approached.

"Nothing." Ghost answered. "It's empty."

"That's good, right?" Mara inquired.

"Not if we need to stop for fuel." Jin stated. "I know that they say those fuel cells will last for a long time, but the trucks are so unreliable that they'll probably leak or something."

The land beyond the Nevada border was about as empty as the sandy plains of California. There was supposed to be some variety, but nuclear war had altered the environment itself, they knew very little about what was beyond.

"Ever been far into Nevada, Ghost?" Mark asked.

"Once." Ghost replied. "It's close to lifeless. People have started to drift back in, but the place has a bad reputation."

"How bad?"

"Bad enough to keep people out." Ghost said. "They say that there's some sort of gang that operates on the edge of Nevada and beyond that." He tapped his rifle's stock idly. "What worries me is where we're going to go."

"Come again?" Mara frowned. "We're going to Salvation."

"That's not what I meant." Ghost shook his head. "We've got to choose between Oregon and Idaho, and then between Washington and Montana."

"And the difference is?"

"I know a little about Seattle, it's a place to avoid, and a few folks in Arroyo owe me favours."

"Favours?"

"I helped them to deal with some geckos." Ghost explained. "I had to earn a living to travel. But that was years ago. I've been through Idaho and Montana once, and I don't recommend them either, a lot might have changed."

"So either way, we're screwed." Jin surmised.

"Pretty much." Ghost agreed. "Jill's route takes us through Idaho and Montana, but if we have to we could ask her to go through the other two."

"And where is Salvation?"

"On the north-western edge of Montana."

"We'll make those choices when we have to." Mark decided. "We still need to get through Nevada."

Emily was very quiet, which was unusual for her. Mark nudged her gently.

"Can you hear something?" She murmured.

Mark listened carefully. "Engines?"

"I thought Jill was going to wait." Ghost frowned.

"That isn't a truck engine." Jin stated. "I think it's a bike."

"A bicycle?" Emily enquired.

"No, a motorcycle." Jin corrected her. "Sounds like a big one."

"I can't see anything." Ghost had his eye to his scope.

"The sound's fading, maybe it's leaving."

Mark lowered his binoculars. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Are we going or what?" Walter demanded.

Mark sighed. "Yes, we're going. But we need to be cautious." He picked up his gun. "Come on. Let's get back on the road."

* * *

Mark told Jill about what they had heard, but she didn't seem to be concerned.

"Probably just a guy who's proud of the bike he's managed to maintain." She waved her hand dismissively. "We've got other things to worry about." She walked off to berate Morin, who had tried to open one of the crates in the second truck.

"Worth a try." Jin shrugged.

"We'd better keep our guns loaded." Mark muttered. "Ghost reckons that there's some sort of gang roaming around, we'd better be ready for them." He walked off to talk to Emily, who was, for some strange reason, trying to remove the lenses from a pair of old sunglasses.

"An experiment?" Mark asked.

"Kind of," Emily had her tongue between her teeth. "I'm trying to find a way of attaching these to my rifle's scope, the sun keeps dazzling me. Ghost also says that sunlight reflects off scopes, so I'm trying to solve that problem too."

"That's actually quite clever."

"You did say that I'm a genius."

"And it's true."

Emily laughed and blushed. By now she had removed one lens and was attaching it to a small hinge-like device she had put on the end of her rifle's scope. She pulled it down and peered through her scope.

"I think it works." She announced. "I can still see and aim, but I'm not being blinded either."

"I told you, you're a genius."

"We're moving out!" Jill called. "Pack up, we're rolling."

* * *

Mara was in the driving seat this time, apart from finding the gear changes a little tricky she was a good driver.

Nevada didn't really try to meet them, unless dust whipping into the trucks counted as a welcome.

"How far to New Reno?" Mara asked Emily, who was next to her for navigation.

"Not far now." Emily answered. "About two miles."

"Lovely." Mara muttered.

"Jin says that New Reno isn't the best place to go."

"Were those his exact words?"

"No, he actually said that it was _shitty_."

"He's not wrong." Mara agreed. "When we get there, watch your back and keep a gun with you."

Emily reached down and checked her 10mm. "I'll take your word for it."

* * *

"So you don't know what's happened in New Vegas?" Lily asked.

"No," Jin confirmed. "The conflicts between the factions are among our reasons for leaving. We did offer to help the NCR, but they turned us down. We've trodden on too many toes, they don't mind us, but they don't trust us either."

"That's awful."

"Look on the bright side, though. There aren't any wars being fought in Salvation." Jin shrugged. "I'm on the way there with a good looking girl, what more could I ask for?"

Lily smiled mischievously at him. "Maybe a drink somewhere?"

Jin glanced at Ghost, who was honing the blade of one of his knives.

"Aren't you supposed to complain?" Jin asked.

Ghost looked up. "Honestly, Mara and I don't really mind. Just keep the making out and sex private."

"You expect a lot from me."

"I know what you're like, Jin." Ghost chuckled. "And, unless I'm much mistaken, Lily is enjoying your company."

"Yeah, I am." Lily turned Jin's attention away. "So what do you say to that drink?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Quiet!" Mark suddenly grabbed his gun. "You hear that?"

"Oh shit." Ghost banged on the truck's cabin. "Mara, company's coming!"

Mark could definitely hear the throaty sound of a big motorcycle. It sounded like there was more than one of them two.

The sound of gunfire was unmistakable.

Mara slammed the brakes on and the truck skidded to a halt. The second almost hit them, and hastily steered away.

"Everybody out!" Jill barked. "Defensive formation!"

As Mark jumped out, something large and black roared by and kicked sand into his eyes. When his vision cleared, he saw that their attackers were riding choppers. How they had maintained or found them was a mystery, but they would make the fight much harder.

Each bike had fiery motifs, and their riders were clad in dark leathers and metal, with a symbol on their backs. The symbol showed a demonic face with a halo above its head. Below the head was the label: Heaven's Devils.

Bullets hit the trucks, somebody fell with a scream.

Mark opened fire, leading his targets, and managed to take out two of the riders. The riders were mostly armed with Uzis, but some of them were carrying cut down versions of energy weapons, sawn-off shotguns, assault rifles with their stocks removed, and all sorts of weapons.

The bikes were circling them, firing randomly and trying to pick them off.

Mark heard another scream and saw Peter Webb fall back with blood streaming from his chest. He'd been riddled with bullets from an Uzi, he was dead in seconds.

"This doesn't look good!" Walter shouted. "They've got us pinned!"

"Vasquez!" Mark bellowed. "Cover us!"

Vasquez marched out and opened up with his M60. Mark charged out and into the path of two bikes.

As he had hoped, they were paying more attention to the big soldier with the light machinegun.

Mark mowed them both down, their bikes fell and skidded across the ground. Mark ran back into cover just as something exploded.

"_Bazooka!" _Lily yelled.

Mark saw Emily on the ground and ran to her. She was bleeding from a gash on her head. "Emily!"

She coughed and sat up. "I'm okay," she wiped the blood away. "Vasquez…"

Mark looked round and saw what was left of Vasquez. He'd been too close to the explosion. He'd lost his left arm and part of his face was gone.

Morin was on the ground, writhing around and screaming as Chang tried to pull some shrapnel out of his chest.

"_No!" _Emily screamed, seeing what Li was doing. "You'll kill him!"

Li stopped tugging at the shrapnel. "But he's…"

"Let me," Emily knelt down over Alex. She winced. "I'm not sure if I can save him though."

"Li, grab your gun!" Ghost shouted. "You can't help him now."

Li picked up her service rifle and reluctantly joined the fight. But by now, they were losing badly.

Johnny had taken a shot to the leg and was struggling to fight and they had lost two people, Alex was dying too.

The gunfire from the riders came to an abrupt halt.

"Hold your fire!" Mark yelled. The gunfire on their side died down.

"Drop your weapons." The order came from somebody with a megaphone. "Or we'll blow your asses to kingdom come."

They could all see the damage the bazooka had done. They couldn't take the risk.

"Do it." Mark dropped his carbine, pistol and sawn-off on the ground. There was more clattering as the others dropped theirs.

The bikes came thrumming slowly up to them. They left a line between them for an even bigger bike, one with a large man on it. He had a very long beard, almost down to his waist, weathered features and sunglasses. His helmet obscured the rest of his features.

He stepped off his bike and removed his helmet, revealing braided hair under his helmet. For all intents and purposes, he looked like a particularly murderous stereotype of a Viking.

He slowly pulled a gold plated Raging Bull from its holster and walked up to them. He was bigger than Mark by a head.

"Welcome to my world," he announced. "You know, you actually fought well, unlike some morons we've killed."

"Who are you?" Mark grated.

"Folks call me Longbeard. Vic Longbeard." The biker stated. "What's this?" He gestured at one of his men, who hurried over, picked up Vasquez' M60 and handed it to Longbeard. "This is a nice gun." Longbeard purred. "Very intimidating, nothing like a machinegun."

"We've surrendered." Mark told him. "What do you want from us?"

"Just your attention." Longbeard answered. "You are?"

"Mark Kelson."

"Kelson?" Longbeard paused in admiring the M60. "I know that name. You caused some trouble up here, in your NCR days. You're a fighting man, I can respect that. You travel with interesting friends." He glanced at them. "You, I think I know you too" He pointed his revolver at Mara. "At least, I think I _knew _your tribe."

Mara didn't rise to the bait.

"You're Mara Lanning, if the description was right, you could join my little group." Longbeard continued. "Some of your tribal friends were smart and did just that. The rest…" He mimicked executing somebody with his revolver. "Had to die."

"You sick son of a bitch!" Jin hissed.

"And you, I've heard about a ghoul called Ghost, who's loved or feared, depending on who you talk to." Longbeard ignored Jin. "But you're hardly legendary, so few people know about you, or even believe that you exist."

"I like to keep it that way." Ghost muttered.

Longbeard peered over Ghost's shoulder, and then moved past him. He found himself standing over Emily and the dying Private Morin.

Emily looked up at him, her hands were bloody again. An empty syringe of med-x lay next to Alex, who was still in pain.

"Please," Emily pleaded. "He's wounded, I can help him."

"There is only one way to help him now."

The shot startled them. Emily jumped; Alex's blood had hit her in the face.

"He's not in any pain now, is he?" Longbeard smiled at Emily. "A bullet can be very effective medicine."

Emily spat at him. "You bastard!" She jumped to her feet and launched herself at him.

One of Longbeard's men grabbed her and threw her to the ground.

Longbeard was roaring with laughter. "I _like _you, girl!" He roared. "You have guts." He walked away, still laughing. "That's a brave girl you have there, Kelson." Seeing Mark's frown he added: "I saw the rings. You can play at being a decent human being, Kelson, but there is no such thing out here, in the real world."

Longbeard's men were picking up weapons and taking them to the first truck, adding them to the piles.

"Hey!" Emily protested as one of them took her medical kit. The barrel of an Uzi was shoved into her neck to keep her quiet.

"I like this." One of the bikers had picked up Johnny's SPAS-12.

"You can keep it, Jacko." Longbeard told him. "You guys had a lot of weapons; this is a birthday for us."

Nobody retaliated as the bikers fawned over the weapons they were stealing. One called Wasp had taken a liking to Webb's MP-40, Longbeard had slung Vasquez' M60 across his back, the one he had called Jacko was cradling the SPAS-12.

"Take the food, medicine, drugs, guns, ammo, everything." Longbeard instructed. "Get these trucks ready."

"And what happens to us?" Mark demanded.

Longbeard smirked at him. "A little example. You see, I respect strength, and you seem to have some. But, I must show you how strong _I _am. This is not strength you can buy. Now… which one." He surveyed them all. "You." He pointed at Johnny. "Bring him to me."

Two of his bikers grabbed Johnny and dragged him to Longbeard.

"What is your name?"

"Johnny Jones." Johnny grimaced. "You ain't getting shit out of me!"

"I don't need you to talk." Longbeard laughed. "I need you to set an example. Devils, form the cross, get the chains."

Mark had a sickening idea of what was going to happen as they chained each of Johnny's limbs to a bike, four chains lay in the dust. They were going to rip him apart.

"No!" Mark surged forwards.

Jacko smashed his newly acquired shotgun into Mark's stomach. It was like being hit with a hammer, Mark felt something crack and he fell to his knees.

Emily hurried to his side and helped him up.

"You think you are strong?" Longbeard asked. "Well, we shall see how strong Johnny Jones is." He stood back to watch. "Do it."

The bikes roared into life and began to move forwards. The chains began to lift then stretch.

Johnny strained, and then began to scream. The sickening sound of flesh tearing and bones popping, accompanied by Johnny's screams filled the dry air.

Fred covered his face with his hands. Walter looked faint. Jill was shaking.

Johnny's scream became one last desperate wail. And then it ended.

Lily turned away and clutched Jin helplessly. Mark and his friends could only watch in horror as the four pieces of flesh that had been Lucky Johnny Jones were dragged away.

His hat, not bloodied, rolled across the ground and lay at Longbeard's feet.

Li gaped, terrified, at the sight. Walter vomited. Jill was shaking with rage. Gabby's expression was stuck between anger and grief. Fred was still not looking.

"Now do you see?" Longbeard asked quietly.

Mark looked away from the blood and gore and straight at Longbeard.

"We will let you go." Longbeard stated. "If you are strong, you will survive for maybe… a day or two. If not, well, you understand." He climbed onto his bike. "Have fun now."

"We'll be seeing you." Mark growled.

"I think not." Longbeard smiled and started up his bike. The trucks coughed into life and followed the Heaven's Devils off into Nevada.

Longbeard waved cockily at them as they rode off.

Mark was seething, but also feeling helpless.

They had nothing, no weapons and no supplies. Just their clothes and wits.

"Now what?" Walter seemed to have guessed the same thing.

"We're not done yet." Ghost slipped out a small gun. "I still have my two-two and a few knives."

"I've got this." Jin tugged a small revolver out of his boot. "But that's it. That's all we've got. We couldn't have saved Johnny with these, but…"

"Don't, Jin." Ghost said. "We'd be dead too."

"Great," Gabby sighed. "So we've got two small handguns and a few knives. It's not weapons we need, guys."

"I've still got some water." Emily held up her canteen. "But unless you want to snack on heartburn tablets, we have no food." She held up a packet of _Coolie's Soothers_. "And there are only six of them left."

"Why are you carrying those around?" Walter demanded. "They're no bloody good if somebody gets shot!"

"They are if you get heartburn." Emily muttered as she put the tablets away.

"Don't make suggestions if they're crap!"

"Enough!" Ghost stepped in. "We're all pretty fucking angry right now, but we mustn't fight each other. Now, Emily has water, we have two guns. We also have Emily's Pip-Boy, which can tell us where the nearest settlement is."

"Oh, right!" Emily lifted her wrist. "It's New Reno."

"Which way?"

"North-east."

"See? We're not dead yet." Ghost stated. "We've got a chance. We can arm ourselves in New Reno and get some payback."

"How are we going to get guns?" Lily asked, waving her arms. "They took our caps."

"I know a guy in New Reno, who conveniently owes me a favour." Ghost explained. "I think it's time I called it. Emily, you navigate, I'll take the front and Jin will take the back. Keep your eyes peeled for animals and water."

* * *

They trudged in the rough direction of New Reno, feeling a little more optimistic. But it wasn't long before the heat began to take its toll.

The sun was starting to burn Emily's fair skin, out of sympathy Jill removed some of the underlying fabric of her armour and gave it to Emily as a headscarf.

Walter wasn't doing much better; he was sweating profusely and struggling to keep up.

Ghost and Jin couldn't risk using their guns unless they had to. Jin only had five shots, Ghost had six.

"If those creeps break my rifle, there'll be hell to pay." Ghost muttered.

"Join the club." Mara said. "That shotgun was my brother's."

"Hey… uh, Mara?" It was Fred, looking nervous.

Mara turned and surveyed his expression. He looked apologetic.

"I just wanted to say… I'm sorry that I flipped when you shot those raiders." He said. "I mean, I'm really not used to this."

"It's okay." Mara looked up at the empty sandy plains ahead. "I think this is new for all of us. But now you know why I shoot first and ask questions later, right?"

Fred clearly understood what she meant. The death of Johnny was still fresh in his mind. "Yeah, I understand."

At the front of the group, Ghost shielded his eyes with his hand and peered across the sandy ground. "Emily?"

"I think we're heading too far north." Emily was looking down at her Pip-Boy and gesturing with her free hand. "We need to go east."

"When you said somebody owed you a favour, Ghost, what did you do?" Mark asked.

"Oh, that's simple." Ghost shrugged. "I shot some guys he didn't like."

"Uh-huh." Mark grunted.

"They were thugs anyway." Ghost added. "They kept trashing the guy's store; they worked for some local gang boss. I shot him too, I needed a bonus."

"Remind me never to get on your bad side, Ghost."

"I don't think that's likely, Boss." Ghost followed Emily's finger eastwards. "This way. I just hope that we reach New Reno soon."

"I'm sure we'll know it when we see it."


	4. Raiding the raiders

"Are we there yet?" Li croaked. "I'm dying for a drink."

Emily handed Li her canteen, even though her throat was parched. Li lifted the canteen to her mouth, but nothing came out. "It's empty."

"We're out of water." Emily announced croakily.

Jin stumbled; Lily helped him back onto his feet. "When I get my hands on that son of a bitch…" Jin rasped.

"Don't talk unless you have to," Ghost told him, sounding more hoarse than usual. "Save it."

They had been on the move for two days, and without water they would die soon.

Hope seemed to have drained away, until…

"There!" Emily called. "A town!"

"New Reno," Jill breathed. "I never thought I'd be glad to see the shithole."

New Reno was a little bit like New Vegas, only worse. It was smaller, with a bad reputation and plenty of troublemakers.

But as far as they were concerned, it was a blessing.

A few drifters eyed them warily, thinking they were crazy, as they all lined up at a fire hydrant for water.

"Water's underrated." Jin commented as he straightened up.

"I still prefer beer." Ghost said. "But this'll do for now."

"So, your friend," Lily wiped her mouth. "Where is he?"

Ghost looked around. "I hate to say it, but at this time of day, he'll be there." He pointed at a decrepit looking building with a flashing sign of a cat above it with the words _Cat's Paw_ below it.

"Let me guess," Jill sighed. "A brothel."

"I never said that a saint owed me a favour." Ghost muttered. "I'll appeal to his better nature, assuming he still has a shred of one."

"And if he doesn't?"

"I'll go for the usual approach: a gun to the face." Ghost hid his 22. "I might need some backup. Not too much, or we'll attract trouble."

"Fred, Walter, put your tongues back in." Jill sighed. "We'll stand outside with Chang, Lily and Gabby."

"Aww, Boss…" Walter whined.

"Stow it, Walter." Jill hissed.

"Jin," Lily called. "You behave."

"I'm not _that _bad." Jin assured her as he followed Ghost.

"Jin, keep your gun hidden, they'll search us."

As Ghost predicted, a guard next to the door searched and only found Ghost's obviously placed knives.

The place was about as bad as Mark had expected. New Reno had never been classy, but it had devolved over the years. Thumping music was erupting from the speakers and scantily clad women were showing off all over the place, a few people were inhaling Jet in the corner.

"Eyes forward." Ghost advised. "Look at somebody the wrong way and you'll get killed."

"I thought they…" Mara began.

"If they didn't find my gun, do you reckon they'd find anybody else's?"

"Point taken."

Ghost spotted who he was looking for and gestured discreetly.

The man in question was thin, with a pointed face and wispy hair and stubble. He had a half-naked girl on his lap, who was pretending to enjoy his company.

"Sorry to interrupt." Ghost said as he sat down opposite them.

"Do you…" The man froze. "Oh God, it's you! I thought you were dead."

"In a manner of speaking," Ghost took the man's untouched bottle of beer and drank some. "Ratty, I'm here for your help."

"_My_ help?" Ratty gawped. "And who are these guys?"

"Friends." Ghost stated.

"Since when did you run with others?"

"Since last year." Ghost answered. "We need your help, we need _items_."

Ratty scowled. "Honey, go and get me a drink." He pushed the prostitute off his lap. She looked disgruntled as she walked away. Ratty leaned forwards. "So what do you want?"

"Guns for eleven people." Ghost stated. "You still have some, right?"

"No way, Ghost." Ratty grimaced. "End of story. Go away." He began to stand up.

"Don't." Ghost growled.

Ratty stopped suddenly and the colour drained out of his face.

"You don't want to lose _that_, do you?" Ghost threatened. His pistol was aimed at Ratty's crotch. "Sit down."

Ratty sat down, looking scared.

"You owe me, big time." Ghost stated. "I'm calling it in. Give us some guns and the nearest place the Heaven's Devils squat and you'll never hear from me again."

"Seriously?" Ratty asked desperately.

"We're taking a long holiday a long way from here." Ghost explained. "The sooner we have weapons, the sooner we'll be gone."

"Hey, you lot." The owner of the voice was a thickset man, with more fat than muscle, but clearly quite tough. "You causin' trouble?"

"Nothing to worry about." Mara told him.

"You, zombie,"

Ghost ignored him.

"I'm talking to _you_, zombie!" He clapped a heavy hand down on Ghost's shoulder.

Jin pressed his revolver into the man's back. "Back away."

The man gawped for a few moments. Then he took Jin's advice and shuffled away. All of his muscle was useless against a gun aimed at his back.

"Now make this easy, Ratty." Ghost growled. "Guns. Ammo. Location. Now."

* * *

Ratty took them, reluctantly, to his salvage shop, which was located close to the old chop-shop.

The place was a dump; it smelt of oil, sweat and rust. There was indeed the rusted hulk of a car inside.

Ratty led them past the junk on display and unlocked a door to a backroom. He gestured at a rack which held a pipe rifle and a rusty cleaver.

"There you are." Ratty declared hopefully.

Ghost sighed. "Ratty, come here for a moment." He put his arm around Ratty's shoulder, which terrified the man, and led him to the corner. Once there, Ghost pulled out his gun. "Now, Ratty," he didn't point the gun at him, but gestured with it instead. "I know you've got more than a junk rifle. I wasted those thugs for you, you took their weapons."

"I can't afford to just give them away." Ratty quivered.

"Ratty, a couple of days ago I watched a man get torn into quarters by some nutjobs on bikes," Ghost stated. "They then decided to take all of our stuff, including our trucks. I don't want to be stuck in this shithole forever, and _you_ don't want me to be stuck in this shithole with you. Understand?"

"And what are you going to do about the Heaven's Devils?"

"Why do you think we want guns?" Ghost asked rhetorically.

"Do you know where they are?" Emily asked suddenly.

Ghost turned himself and Ratty round to face her. "Yeah, just head north-east and listen for engines." Ratty answered.

"If you give us the guns, we'll clear out the outpost and leave some caps for you, or salvage." Emily told him. "How much do you want?"

"Ten thousand."

"One thousand."

"Ten."

"Four."

"Six."

"Five."

"Five!"

"Aha!" Emily had caught him out, which was surprising for all of them as she had never shown any skill with bartering. "Five it is. And we'll throw in salvage."

Ratty grimaced. "Fine, let go of me."

Ghost released him. Ratty produced another key and slotted it into a tiny hole in the wall.

He pulled back the panel to reveal a strange collection of guns. There were only eleven, but that was all they needed. There were two Glock 17s, two Beretta 92Fs, a Ruger MP9, a Skorpion, an AEP9 laser pistol, two AK-112s, an M1 Garand and a Wattz 2000 laser rifle with a sawn-off barrel.

"They'll do." Mark decided as he selected one of the AK-112s. "Better than that pipe rifle anyway."

"You'd be better off using it as a club." Ghost agreed as he picked one of the Glocks.

After a few minutes and a couple of squabbles, they were all armed. Jin fashioned himself a sort of spiked knuckle duster out of scrap. It wasn't as good as his power-fist, but it could still kill.

"You're ruining me, Ghost." Ratty groaned.

"Getting rid of these mad bikers has to be good for everyone, right?" Emily said as she adjusted the micro-fusion cell the Wattz 2000.

Ratty didn't reply and just went back to muttering about losing his best guns.

* * *

With directions to the nearest Heaven's Devils outpost, a place called Breaker's Den, they left New Reno with guns, ammo and supplies. Ironically, they were trying to reclaim their guns, ammo and supplies, along with the trucks.

Walter and Li were both annoyed that they had ended up with pistols, but Ghost wasn't complaining about his Glock.

"If you shoot them in the right spot, it doesn't matter what gun you're using." He explained to Fred, who was fiddling with the slide of his Beretta.

Mark hadn't used an AK-112 before. It was bigger than his carbine, and a little more powerful, but the sights were further down the barrel than he would have liked and it was a cumbersome gun. He also had to cope with a twenty-four round magazine instead of his usual thirty round ones.

Mara was more annoyed by the lack of a shotgun. She could use rifles, and was a decent shot, but she preferred shotguns.

"I bet Ghost is pissed too." Jin said. "Jill and Emily have the closest things to sniper rifles."

"Yeah, but Ghost is such a good shot that it hardly matters." Mara commented. "Shotguns lack range with buckshot, but they pack a punch."

"Check the weapons." Ghost reminded them. "Ratty usually keeps stuff in decent condition, but guns aren't really his thing."

This turned out to be true. Jin found himself fixing the Ruger Lily had chosen, Gabby's Skorpion, Fred's Beretta and Walter's Glock. As she was skilled with energy weapons, Emily fixed both the laser pistol and the rifle.

"Swap?" Walter asked Emily hopefully. "I mean, that rifle looks a bit cumbersome for you."

"Are you an energy weapons expert?" Mark asked.

"Err… no."

"Have you ever used an energy weapon?"

"Not really, no."

"Then Emily's better off with the laser." Mark stated. "And she's stronger than she looks."

"I still feel underpowered." Li muttered.

"If this works, we'll get out guns back." Lily assured her. "If not, then we'll have some extra guns anyway."

After fixing their weapons, they trudged on further into the dusty lands as the sun descended from the sky, bathing them in orange light.

The heat was dying down, but the air was still warm.

"I don't suppose you miss air conditioning, vault girl?" Walter asked.

"The air-con, yes," Emily shrugged, "the vault, no."

Ghost knelt down and examined the dust. "Tyre tracks." He announced. "I'd wager that the only people with vehicles out here are the Heaven's Devils. Looks like we're heading in the right direction."

They followed the trail long into the night, until they finally found the outpost.

Ghost spotted it first, but they all heard it long before that.

Engines were being revved and they could also hear welders and drills. It looked like there was a workshop inside the outpost, making defences and repairing bikes.

The outpost consisted of a few wooden pre-war single story huts and the stone walled workshop. A few metal shacks had been added and ramshackle walls made of junk surrounded the place, with a single gate facing south. There were two trucks and two armoured Humvees, along with several bikes, at the back of the outpost.

"They've got two machineguns facing south. I guess that are two facing north." Ghost reported as he peered through a pair of old binoculars. Ratty had not been happy to see them go either. "Guards on single patrols, not well timed but at rough intervals."

"Weapons?" Jill prompted.

"Mostly SMGs and pistols, Uzis seem to be the favourite." Ghost answered. "I can see a few shotguns, mostly sawn-offs and semi-automatics. I've seen at least two assault rifles and there's a sniper on the roof of the workshop."

"How many men?" Mara inquired.

"At least twenty." Ghost replied. "Possibly five or ten inside the buildings."

"So there are only ten of us against thirty-five of them." Walter surmised.

"We've had worse odds." Jin said casually. "Besides, and I know this'll sound weird coming from me, stealth is a better idea here."

"I agree with Jin." Ghost nodded. "If we can get rid of a few guards silently, we can catch the rest unawares or at least even the odds."

Jill glanced around. "Mark, I'm leaving this call with you."

"Why?" Mark frowned slightly.

"You and your friends clearly have more experience than I do." Jill explained. "As long as you don't get us killed pointlessly, I won't object."

"Right, well Ghost is the best when it comes to sneaking." Mark said. "Ghost, ideas?"

"I need some people to help me and the rest to cover us if the guns start blazing." Ghost stated. "Jin, you're good under pressure, is anybody else here up for sneaking?"

"I am." Li surprised them by volunteering. "I grew up in the Den; I know how to avoid trouble."

"I might be able to help you out." Fred added. "I'm light footed."

"One more." Ghost declared.

"I'll go with you." Gabby decided. "I guess that leaves the rest of you to provide covering fire."

"Emily's rifle has the longest range." Mara pointed out. "Jill's should be good for sniping too. I think the rest of us should move in if you're discovered."

"Wait for us to take out the machineguns first," Ghost advised. "Or you'll be ripped to pieces." He thought for a moment. "We've only got one silenced weapon between us. I know that Jin can break necks, who else can?"

"I've done it once." Gabby shrugged. "Not that I enjoy it."

"Fine," Ghost handed his two knives to Fred and Li. "Go for the throat or the heart, make sure that they don't scream or fire their weapons. When in doubt, just avoid them."

Li and Fred took the knives apprehensively. Ghost drew out a map of the outpost based on what he had seen in the dust, using rocks and sticks to represent buildings and walls.

They soon had a plan. Before anybody could hesitate, Ghost led his team towards the compound.

"I hope this works." Jill muttered.

"We're here if it doesn't." Mara said unhelpfully. "I just hope that they take out the machineguns first."

* * *

The smell of cigarette smoke wafted from the lone guard ambling around the perimeter. His MP5K was hanging from its sling, swinging lazily as he walked.

The engines were revving again as the mechanics in the workshop modified and repaired them.

He never heard Ghost slip out from behind the hut and creep up behind him.

Ghost grabbed him and snapped his neck before he could react. With the guard dead, Ghost dragged him behind the hut and rolled him under the structure. They had been designed to keep scorpions out, now they were ideal for hiding bodies.

Ghost took the guard's submachine gun before sneaking off again. He made his way to the first improvised pillbox and killed the guard in there too. Just in case things went awry, he removed the ammunition from the machinegun and hid it with the body.

In the other pillbox, Jin took out the other gunner and disabled the machinegun.

Ghost gestured at Li and Fred to follow him. They had agreed to deal with the workshop last, as the noise from within gave them cover.

Jin moved into one of the huts with Gabby. Ghost trusted them to deal with whatever was inside and moved into the longest wooden building, he suspected it was some sort of barracks.

Ghost holstered his Glock and switched to his 22 before opening the door slowly.

Ghost had been right; the building was full of rickety bunk beds, tables and chairs. Three men were asleep on beds. One of them had his back to them and was cooking something, although the smell suggested that he was burning it.

The cook turned and stared stupidly.

Ghost shot him in the head. Li stabbed one of the guards in the throat before the body hit the floor.

Fred hesitated.

Ghost acted quickly and shot the man Fred was standing over. Li took care of the last one.

"Don't hesitate!" Ghost hissed angrily.

"Sorry." Fred whispered.

"Don't be sorry, just be ready." Ghost told him. "Stay close."

He moved towards the door.

He was suddenly knocked over as somebody kicked it open and drunkenly yelled: "Here's Eddy!"

There was a sharp crack and the man fell backwards with blood streaming from his neck.

Ghost looked up and saw the barrel of Li's pistol smoking. There was shouting outside.

Ghost slammed the door shut and dragged a chair under the handle. He unslung the SMG he had taken and selected burst fire.

"Ah well, it was worth a try."

* * *

The distant cracks of gunfire told them what to do next.

"Move!" Mark ordered. "Emily, Jill, cover us." He sprinted towards the outpost.

The machineguns didn't fire; Ghost and Jin had done their jobs.

A Heaven's Devil ran into the pillbox and grabbed the machinegun.

The weapon clicked uselessly before he realised that it wasn't loaded. He never got the chance to think of anything else. A red flash burned into his chest and he fell back, dead.

Mara fired her assault rifle, and a second guard in the other pillbox fell having only just discovered that Jin had broken the trigger of the machinegun he'd tried to use.

Lily ran into the compound, and nearly into the barrel of a rifle. Gabby fired first, mowing down the guard before he could fire.

"Thanks, but you grazed me." Lily glanced at her bleeding arm.

"This thing is a little crappy." Gabby holstered her Skorpion and took the dead guard's rifle.

Mark could heard gunfire coming from the largest wooden building and ran towards it.

He saw three men outside, trying to kick the door open.

A trio of bullets ripped through the wooden door and hit one of the men. Mark shot the other two.

"That wasn't me." Somebody inside the building spoke.

"Ghost?" Mark called. "Are you in there?"

He heard something move and the door opened. Ghost came out, knelt down next to a dead guard and took the magazine from his SMG.

"Just in time, I was running out of bullets." He said. "You two, grab guns."

Li and Fred both took the two Uzis left on the ground.

Mark heard a scream and turned to see a man fly out of one of the workshop's windows.

"Jin's handiwork." Ghost guessed. "Let's get stuck in."

The camp was filled with the sounds of gunfire. The occasional bullet or laser came from afar and hit a hostile. Mara was causing havoc near the trucks; Walter had taken a shotgun from a dead Devil and was helping Jin to forcefully clear out the workshop.

The gunfire eventually became more one-sided as the Devils lost the fight. Soon, there was no more shooting.

"Clear?" Mark called.

"Clear!" Mara responded.

"Clear!" Jin shouted.

"Done, all clear." Ghost added. "Let's regroup."

They gathered in the centre of the compound. Fred was nursing another bullet wound, but he was gritting his teeth this time instead of screaming, Gabby had a few bruises and a few grazes from bullets. She'd ended up in close quarters with an angry mechanic and had then been pinned down by a sniper.

"I owe you one, Mara." Gabby gestured at the roof of the barracks. "That guy almost got me."

"You're welcome." Mara nodded.

"Guys!" Li ran into the compound. "Those two trucks are ours!"

"Which ones?" Jill asked quickly.

"The first and the third, I think."

They followed her to the trucks. The Devils had not tried to modify them, but they had tried to empty them.

Mark found their weapons in the back of the first truck. He knew that they belonged to them because he could see Ghost's battered sniper rifle poking out of one of the crates, along with Mara's shotgun.

"This isn't bad," Emily said as she put down the Wattz 2000. "But I prefer mine." She lifted up her custom built laser rifle.

Jin clambered into the back of the truck. "Jill's looking for a safe these bikers removed from the other truck." He walked up the crates. "Hello, come to daddy." He pulled out his power-fist.

Emily hopped down from the truck and went off in search of the safe.

In the meantime, Jin had an interesting idea. Mark found him inside one of the Humvees; he was trying to hotwire it. The Humvees looked quite advanced and were well armoured. The Heaven's Devils had also added some fearsome spikes, enhanced engines, chunky off-road tyres and dual-linked miniguns.

"Whoever's there, make yourself useful and see if the guns on this thing are loaded." Jin called.

Mark climbed into the gunner's position and checked the dual miniguns. "Yeah, they're loaded. There should be some ammo inside the outpost." He paused. "What's this in aid of?"

"We've only got two trucks, and they're not brilliant if we get attacked, we learned that the hard way." Jin explained. "These Humvees should give us an edge, if I can get them working. These ones seem to run on micro-fusion cells." The engine roared into life. "Aha! Got it!"

"Mark!" Emily shouted. "In here!"

Mark jumped down from the Humvee and left Jin to tinker with it. He found Emily inside the workshop.

Emily was kneeling in front of the safe, which the Devils had hidden behind some car doors. There were welders and drills around it, along with scorch and scratch marks on the safe; it looked like the Devils had tried to force the safe open but without success.

Emily was trying to open it using the computer attached. Mark knew that she would eventually succeed, Emily was good with computers.

"Are you sure you should be doing that?" He asked warily.

"Aren't you curious?" Emily asked. "I think I've got it."

The safe clunked and opened.

Emily gasped. "Mark… it's…"

Mark finished for her as he saw a bright glow from within the safe. "Gold."


	5. Pit-Stop

"Why the hell are the Leatherbacks carrying gold?" Mark wondered aloud.

Something cold and round rested against the bad of his neck. It was unmistakeably a gun.

"Step away from the safe, Mark." That was unmistakeably Jill.

Mark heard a gun being cocked and looked round to see Gabby putting a gun to Emily's head.

"If you hurt her…" He began, speaking before he could think.

"Just listen, I don't want to hurt either of you." Jill requested. "God knows that you're good souls who keep saving our necks."

"Then why are you aiming guns at us?"

"To make you listen." Jill stated. "Stop asking questions and let me speak. The NCR is interested in Canada, but they need access to the border first."

"So they want to invest in Salvation." Emily guessed.

"Correct. If they get Salvation up and running, it'll be an example for the people of the Canadian Wasteland, assuming anybody lives there."

"So the gold isn't for bribes. It's to buy things, construction materials, weapons, food."

"Caps were enough to get Salvation started," Jill said. "But the community is dying, people are leaving or getting killed, it's vulnerable and alone. This gold is going to buy one thing: Salvation's survival."

"And I thought we were leaving NCR territory." Mark muttered.

"You know that they're trying to expand all over the US." Gabby stated. "The Legion might run them out of a few places, but even if you cut off one of the bear's heads, it still has another one."

"We didn't want you to know because we thought you might steal the gold." Jill explained. "That's why we're so desperate to get the trucks back, because of this."

"We're trying to find a new life, a clean slate." Mark told her. "We've got enough caps for that, we don't need gold."

"Wait, there's gold in one of the missing trucks?" Emily asked.

"Yes." Jill answered.

"And the Heaven's Devils have it." Emily murmured. "If they break open that safe… what could they buy with that much gold?"

"Too much." Gabby left it at that. "I think you get the picture."

"Then why are you pointing your guns at _us_?" Mark demanded. "We hate the Heaven's Devils as much as you do, and they shouldn't have that gold."

Jill glanced at Gabby and nodded. They both holstered their guns.

"Just in time," Ghost's voice came from behind them. "I was lining up a shot."

"If you're with us, we have no problem with you." Jill told him.

"Jin's finished hotwiring those Humvees. He's also installed some radios in the trucks." Ghost explained as if nothing had really happened. "Now, let's keep the guns holstered and remain friends. Like Mark said, we're not interested in taking the gold."

"It's just that you promised that Ratty guy some money." Gabby shrugged.

"We're not poor." Mark stated. "We'll leave him some caps, and some salvage."

"But…"

"I said _some _salvage." Mark interrupted. "We're not leaving without some too. I wouldn't leave any guns for a New Reno resident, leave some tech behind instead."

* * *

Jin had been busy with paint as they arranged what to take and what to leave.

In the end, they left six thousand caps and some items that Ratty could sell for a lot of caps; he'd more than make up for the loss of his guns.

"Jin?" Mara frowned. "Why is this Humvee called _Moody Bitch_?"

"Because it seemed like a good name," Jin shrugged. "The other one is called _Bad Attitude_. The trucks are _Road Rage _and _Sand King_."

"How many pre-war action movies have you been watching?"

"A lot."

"I suppose they're better options than numbers."

Mark took the Humvee called _Bad Attitude_, with Ghost as his gunner. Mara elected to drive _Moody Bitch _with Gabby as her gunner. Jill chose to drive _Road Rage_, leaving _Sand King _with Jin as its driver. They would use the same rotating system to avoid crashes due to tiredness.

To satisfy Jill and Gabby, Emily locked the safe full of gold and let them choose a new password and code.

"Isn't this overkill?" Ghost asked as he examined _Bad Attitude's _dual-linked miniguns.

"Not against the Heaven's Devils." Mark said.

"Hello, _Bad Attitude_?" Jill radioed. "Are you leading?"

"Yeah, we are." Mark confirmed. "Emily will navigate." He glanced at Emily, who was sitting next to him. "Which way?"

"North-east." She replied. "I reckon we should stop to rest somewhere. We've had a long night."

"I agree," Mara radioed from the driving seat of _Moody Bitch_. "Let's get some distance from this place and then camp for a few hours."

"Okay, Mark, take the lead." Jill prompted.

Mark put the Humvee into gear and drove off into the desert. They spent half-an-hour on the move until Jin spotted a rocky field of boulders and proposed camping in it.

This turned out to be a bad idea. Emily noticed a lot of blood around the area and several dead brahmin.

The area was a Deathclaw nest. Humvees and miniguns aside, their chances of successfully taking on a Deathclaw nest were remote. They chose to avoid it.

In the end, they stopped in a small, dried up riverbed surrounded by rocks and sandy spires.

Mark slept in the back of _Bad Attitude_. Something warm settled against him. Emily was half lying on him, her head resting on his chest and her left arm draped across him. Mark stroked her hair as she slept before falling asleep himself.

"So we're on a charity mission then?" Mara inquired as she cleaned her Mossberg. "The NCR's throwing down a lot of its cards."

"Who's on watch next?" Jill asked, idly flicking the lid of an empty lighter.

"Mark and Emily."

"Let them sleep." Ghost said. "I'll take their watch, I don't sleep much." He glanced at Jill's lighter. "Are you going to light up?"

"I quit smoking five years ago." Jill answered. She sighed and put the lighter away. "Nervous habit."

"Fine by me then," Mara shrugged. "I hate the smell of cigarette smoke."

"That Longbeard guy, he mentioned your tribe." Jill recalled. "You don't look like a tribal."

"Not all tribals run around in animal hides and throw spears at things." Mara said. "I'm from the Dustrunner tribe; we tended to move around the edges of Nevada." Mara explained. "After my brother died, I left the tribe. I guess that Longbeard attacked them some time after that."

"Is there any chance that he works for Caesar's Legion?" Ghost wondered. "At least as an ally? I mean, he seems to employ some of their ideas. He mentioned adding members of your tribe to his group, that's something the Legion does whenever they take out a group."

"Maybe. Maybe not." Mara shrugged. "I guess we only find that out from Longbeard or one of his goons."

* * *

"Morning."

Mark opened his eyes. Ghost was leaning on the Humvee's window, looking down at him.

"You didn't wake us up for watch." Mark muttered.

"Didn't want to disturb you two." Ghost shrugged.

Emily stirred and looked up. "What's the time?"

"You should tell us."

Emily got the point and glanced at her Pip-Boy. "Eight."

"Rise and shine people!" Jill was calling. "Walter, stow the stuff, Fred, you help him."

"You still up for driving, Mark?" Ghost asked as he clambered into the gunner's position.

Mark and Emily both climbed into the front. "Yeah, I'm ready." Mark answered. He switched the radio on. "This is _Bad Attitude_, we're leading."

* * *

Jin had just put the truck into gear when Lily entered the cabin.

"Hi," she smiled.

"Today just improved brilliantly," Jin remarked.

"You know how to make a girl laugh." Lily giggled.

"Oh it's one of my many talents." Jin said. "I do more than fix things and punch people."

"Still up for that drink?"

"Anytime, anywhere," Jin replied. "Just let me know."

"I think there's some beer in the back." Lily recalled. "Not classy. But beggars can't be choosers."

_Road Rage _coughed and shuddered in front of them.

"Looks like we'll be stopping sooner rather than later." Jin muttered. "If that truck keeps breaking down…"

They managed to carry on for about an hour. That was before _Road Rage _ground to a halt and refused to move.

Jin once again had to attempt repairs. But this time the problem was not as obvious.

"The axles are still attached, there's nothing wrong with the suspension and the engine hasn't fallen out." Jin announced from underneath the truck. "Jill, can you check the gauges?"

Jill surveyed the gauges and then did a double take. "No juice."

"What was that?" Jin called.

"We're out of fuel." Jill replied loudly.

Emily opened the truck's bonnet as Jin hauled himself out from under the truck.

"She's right." Emily confirmed. The macro-fusion cell was dead.

"Should we try that idea of yours?" Jin asked. "Jury-rigging your micro-fusion cells?"

"If my sums are right, and they usually are, that should keep the truck running for about two hours."

"Well, it's either that or leave the truck behind or stay here." Jill said. "I'd rather not do either of those things."

"Right," Emily climbed into the back of the truck. "Give me some time." She removed some micro-fusion cells from the crates and began to wire them together.

Within an hour, she had made a temporary replacement for the macro-fusion cell. But their prospects were still bleak. Emily had just given up a lot of her ammunition.

They had to find a way to recharge the macro-fusion cell. But they were in the middle of nowhere.

Jill tried to drive carefully, to conserve the limited power left.

The dusty lands continued to yield nothing as they entered a rocky canyon.

The truck was starting to run out of power.

"Stop!" Mara radioed. "Everybody stop!"

The vehicles ground to a halt, grinding up dust as they stopped.

"What is it?" Jin asked.

"There's something on the left, looks like a structure of some kind."

"Fred, Gabby, Emily," Jill radioed, "go and take a look."

The three of them moved out and warily approached the structure. There was silenced for a few moments until they Fred came back.

"Looks like some kind power plant." Fred reported. "Gabby says that it's nuclear."

"We've got luck then," Jin said. "Maybe we could charge the macro-fusion cells there, assuming the plant still works."

"Okay," Mark grabbed his carbine. "Lily, Fred, Walter, Li come with me. The rest of you, stay here."

Lily jumped down from Jin's truck and unslung her AUG. The five of them trudged off towards the plant.

Gabby was right. The structure was a small nuclear power plant, and it was somehow still active. Steam was drifting from the cooling towers.

"It's just what we needed." Gabby declared confidently.

"Don't count your chickens." Mark told her.

"What's a chicken?"

"I have no idea, it's just a saying." Mark peered down at the plant. "There might be something inside; somebody must have restarted the reactor."

"Knowing our chances, there'll be shooting involved." Emily added.

"Walter, stay here and keep watch." Mark instructed. "The rest of you, follow me."

They clambered down to the power plant. Nothing fired at them as they approached, but Mark insisted that they should keep their guard up.

"Form up on the doors," Mark gestured.

"Sorry?" Fred frowned.

"Never mind," Mark sighed. He was thinking of military tactics. "Get behind me." He pulled the door handle on the left.

Nothing happened.

"Locked?" Lily inquired.

"Shoot it." Fred suggested.

"Bad idea." Mark stated. "Shooting a door lock doesn't work very well, and the shrapnel is dangerous. Emily, heat it up."

Emily adjusted a switch on the side of her laser rifle. Her rifle was heavily customised, including adjustable temperature and intensity settings.

"Stand back," Emily advised. "This will burn if you get too close."

She aimed and fired a single shot. The door handles warped and melted away, leaving a small pool of cooling liquid metal on the floor and a sizzling hole where the lock had been.

Mark pushed the doors open. "Lily, back me up."

Lily raised her AUG. "Got it."

The reception was empty, apart from a skeleton sitting limply a chair in front of a computer. The interior was dark and dusty, with a few blood stains on the floor.

"Lovely décor." Lily commented.

"Check it," Mark instructed. "And check those corners."

The room yielded nothing, apart from three unlocked doors and the fact that the computer was still active.

"I might be able to get something out of this." Emily laid her rifle down on the desk before pushing the skeleton out of the chair and sitting in its place. "Right," she flexed her fingers. "Let's see." She began to type.

She froze suddenly.

"Em?" Mark noticed her wide eyed stare.

"I've got a camera online." Emily murmured. "It looks… bad."

Mark slung his carbine across his back and peered over Emily's shoulder. The camera lens had something red on it, Mark didn't bother to ask what it was. From what he could see, there were bloodied and torn body parts all around the room.

"Something's in here." Mark guessed. "If we're going to explore this place, we'd better do so in pairs."

Gabby flicked the safety off her MP5. "Okay, Li, you're with me."

"Fred, you with me?" Lily asked.

"Yeah," Fred checked his SMG's magazine. "Just uh… well, don't get reckless."

"Who? Me?" Lily smirked.

"I guess that leaves you and me, Emily." Mark observed.

"I can't complain." Emily shrugged. "Which way?"

"We'll take that door." Mark pointed at one on the left. "I'll go first."

He pushed the door open slowly, keeping his carbine raised. Emily was close behind him, watching his back. A slight problem was her height: she couldn't aim over him. Hopefully the corridor would widen at some point.

The corridor ahead was dark, dry and dusty. If they weren't in Nevada, there might have been rot and plants growing. Sand had leaked in instead, and wind whistled eerily through cracks in the walls.

_Click!_

Mark and Emily both aimed their guns at the door the noise had come from.

The handle twisted and the door slowly opened.

Mark lowered his gun as he saw the barrel of Li's service rifle emerge from the darkness.

"Oh!" Li also lowered her weapon. "It's you, sorry."

"It's okay, you didn't shoot us." Mark told her. "Have you found anything?"

"Only this," Li produced a micro-fusion cell from one of her pockets. "Apparently, there's a charging station in the basement."

"Brilliant," Emily raised her eyebrows, which fell quickly. "Wait, that camera showed us part of the basement."

"Typical," Mark muttered dryly. "This sort of thing always happens to us."

"Do you want us to follow you?" Li inquired.

"If you hear death and screaming, then yes." Mark said.

Li swallowed. "That's comforting."

"Look, we'll come back if there's Deathclaw sleeping down there or something." Mark assured her. "Stay with Gabby, help her search the place."

Mark gestured at Emily to follow him and they pressed on, deeper and further down into the complex.

As they descended a second flight of stairs, Mark heard a faint clicking sound.

"Is that your Pip-Boy, Em?" Mark asked.

"One rad per second." Emily confirmed. "I'll let you know if it gets worse."

"Have you got any rad-x or rad-away?"

"Three bottles of rad-x and two rad-aways." Emily recalled. "Sorry, I left most of them in the Humvee."

"One rad per second isn't too bad, as long as we move quickly."

They kept on going; Mark tried to ignore the clicking of Emily's Geiger counter. She picked up on his unease and turned the volume down.

Luckily, the radiation didn't increase. Nevertheless, since they were being irradiated they both swallowed a rad-x pill to reduce the risk.

"We should have asked Ghost to come with us." Mark muttered.

"No, we can't risk that any longer." Emily told him. "I've been reading about radiation, and Ghouls. Apparently, the more time they spend in radiation, more neural decay occurs and they are more likely to become feral."

Mark felt a twinge of fear. Ghost was one of his best friends; the last thing he wanted was to lose him. It would be a nightmarish scenario if he had to kill Ghost.

"Ghost does seem to be a special case though." Emily continued reassuringly. "I mean, he's been around for at least a hundred years, with a lot of time spent near radiation."

"You've got a point, both times." Mark said. "But I'd rather not risk his health, or sanity, he's out of reach anyway for the moment."

They were quiet again as they entered the basement. The smell of rotting flesh wafted from the metal door ahead.

Emily paused and shivered. Unpleasant memories were being recalled.

"Do you want to stay back?" Mark asked quietly.

"No," Emily steeled herself. "I'm with you."

Mark admired Emily's courage. She'd always been plucky, but not very confident.

Mark opened the door and advanced carefully into the room. Something squelched under his foot. He didn't look down. He didn't want to know what it was.

"Who's there?"

Mark froze.

The voice had been guttural and aggressive, and far from human.

Emily glanced at him and mouthed: "Super Mutant."

Mark heard the sound of something heavy being dragged along the floor, something metallic.

"Come out now!" The Super Mutant barked. "Dinner time!"

Mark moved to the left, taking cover behind the wall. Emily went right.

Mark peeked around the corner and saw the greenish skinned mutant. It was much bigger than he was, and carrying a crude club made out of a metal pole and an old engine block.

"No hiding!" The mutant growled.

"Now!" Mark shouted before rounding the corner and opening fire.

The mutant bellowed and swung its club. Mark jumped back, but his carbine was ripped from his grasp and hurled over the mutant's head.

"Aha!" The mutant grabbed him. "There you are!"

Mark heard a hiss and smelt burnt flesh. The mutant reeled and dropped him. Its shoulder was smoking.

Emily lifted her rifle and activated VATS. She fired her first shot into the mutant's chest.

The mutant was too close for VATS though. It grabbed Emily and flung her from the room.

Emily hit the metal floor with a thud and a crack and lay still with blood pooling around her head.

"_Emily!" _Mark cried. The mutant was forgotten. Emily was injured, that was the first thing on his mind.

The mutant swung at him, bringing him back to reality.

Mark ducked and ran to the far end of the room, he had nowhere else to go, and hid behind the wall.

"Stupid human!" The Super Mutant laughed. "No gun now!"

Mark heard a snapping sound and the shearing of metal. Something clattered around the corner.

It was his assault carbine, now torn in half. Even Jin couldn't salvage it now.

At least the Super Mutant was wrong about one thing. Mark still had a gun.

He slipped his Browning out of its holster. He had doubts about it killing the Super Mutant and transferred it to his left hand. He drew his sawn-off with his right hand. Now he had a better chance.

"Come out and make it quick!"

"With pleasure!" Mark swung round the corner and fired his pistol. The Mutant yelped as the bullets hit it.

Mark fired the shotgun. The recoil hurt his wrist, but it did the job. The Super Mutant fell back, riddled with bullets and buckshot.

Mark shot it in the head, just in case.

"Mark?" Emily called. "Mark!" She was bleeding from a cut on her head. The blood was clinging to her hair and face.

"I'm fine." Mark called as she ran through the door. "It's dead. What about you? You're bleeding."

"I'm okay." Emily assured him. "Just dazed. You had me worried." She sighed, lowering her rifle. "Are you hurt?"

"Just bruised," Mark told her. "My carbine wasn't so lucky." He nudged the broken receiver of his carbine. He felt a slight twinge of sadness. It was silly, but he'd been slightly attached to the carbine. It had seen him through a lot of fights and adventures, now it was in bits.

"Oh," Emily picked up what was left of the barrel. "Maybe Jin can…"

"No, even he can't fix this." Mark told her. "Come on, we've got fuel to find. I'll borrow a gun for the trip." Mark paused. "Honestly, I'd rather lose my gun than lose you."

Emily reached into her medical bag and retrieved a cloth to hold against her head. "I don't think that I've got concussion. Lots of blood though."

Luckily for them, the Super Mutant had been the only inhabitant and Li had been right.

Gabby and Fred went back to the convoy. With Jin's help, they recharged the macro-fusion cells at a charging station outside the reactor.

It took a long time, at least nine hours, but the cells would probably last all the way to Salvation.

Emily hopefully presented Jin with Mark's broken carbine, but Jin confirmed what Mark had suspected: that he couldn't fix it.

When they returned to the convoy, Mark took one of the AK-112s as a replacement for his carbine before climbing back into the Humvee and taking the wheel.

"Sorry about your gun, Mark." Emily said.

"Like I said, I'm just glad that you survived." Mark told her. "How's the head?"

"Slightly better." Emily now had a bandage around her head. Mark had helped to put it on.

"Tell you what; would you like to learn how to drive?"

"You'll teach me?" Emily's eyes widened hopefully. "Really?"

"There's little to crash into in the wastes outside this canyon. I don't see any harm in teaching you."

"This should be interesting." Ghost murmured. "Just go easy on the throttle at first."


	6. Assault on Area Forty

The rumbling of bike engines gave away the Heaven's Devils wherever they went. But the noise was useful; it kept people and some creatures away. When noise failed, they had guns.

Longbeard watched from the camp as a trio of bikers circled a lone wastelander, taunting and firing their guns at his feet. A fourth biker held a screaming and struggling girl in his arms.

Finally, one of the bikers cornered sharply and ran the wastelander down. Longbeard heard flesh being squashed and bones popping as the bike crushed the unlucky wastelander.

The girl screamed despairingly. It had occurred to Longbeard that the man was her father.

He felt nothing for either of them though. Only the strongest survived in the wastelands, and his gang was among the strongest ever.

"Boss," one of his men approached. "Ripper's having no luck with that safe."

Longbeard gave the truck a baleful look. The other had a few guns inside, but it was the safe he was interested in. He'd left two of the stolen trucks at the outpost near New Reno.

But that seemed to have been a mistake.

"Any word from the outpost?" Longbeard asked.

"No, Boss." The rider answered. "No news on the radio. Should we send some scouts to check it?"

"Get on with it." Longbeard grunted.

The rider turned and walked off to give orders.

Longbeard walked over to the truck and peered inside. Two of his men were trying to get the safe open. Two bent crowbars lay next to them, now they were trying to use an acetylene torch in an attempt to cut it open.

Longbeard didn't know what the safe was made of or why it seemed to be impregnable. None of his men were computer experts. So hacking it was out of the question.

Longbeard left them to it, wondering if he could intimidate some computer whizz into opening it for him.

There had been no word from his contacts in the Mojave. He had once hoped to make contact with Talon Company in the Capital Wasteland, but they were a long way away.

The sound of bikes drawing near made him turn left. The four bikers had returned. One of them was still clutching the girl, who had stopped struggling and was crying instead.

"He had nothing, Boss." One of the bikers held up some ragged clothing. "Apart from his clothes and this girl."

"You know what to do." Longbeard stated as he lit a cigarette.

"Sure, Boss." The biker nodded as he dropped the girl in the dust. "Come on boys, let's grab some grub."

Longbeard was left standing over the girl. He expelled some smoke, savouring the taste of the tobacco. The girl was looking up at him pitifully. Longbeard never let women join the Heaven's Devils; they were too weak in his eyes and were only useful to keep the morale of his men up, or as trophies or as bargains for slavers.

"Please…" The girl pleaded.

"Life's too short." Longbeard grabbed her arm. He had to relieve his anger somehow.

* * *

"How do we know that we haven't lost them?" Mara inquired over the radio.

"They were heading north, and they apparently have a base in Idaho." Mark explained. "Isn't that right, Ghost?"

"Yeah, but I think that they use an army base in Montana as their main base." Ghost said. He wiped the goggles he had borrowed. They were travelling at speed now. "Emily, ease up on the throttle please."

"Okay, uh…" Emily looked down at her feet. "Is that better?"

"Yeah," Ghost replied. "Thanks."

"You need to change down." Mark noticed the engine noise.

Emily had to look down to find the gear stick. "Okay."

"No, no, down." Mark told her quickly as she began to move the gear stick in the wrong direction.

Despite the occasional hiccup and stall, she had managed to get the hang of the basics. She was still nervous though, Mark sometimes couldn't tell if it was the wheels or her squeaking from time to time.

"Movement ahead." Jill reported. "Hey, _Bad Attitude_, do you see it?"

"Yeah, we see it." Mark confirmed. "Ghost, what do you reckon?"

"It's moving slowly," Ghost reached down and fished his sniper rifle off the backseat. "I think it's a brahmin caravan."

"Friendly?" Emily asked.

"I know that mark," Ghost muttered as he peered down his scope. "They're friendly and they'll have supplies, bring us alongside them."

"Are you sure?"

"If they shoot us, you can shout at me."

Emily turned the wheel, a little too hard, and almost put the Humvee into a skid.

"Gently, small corrections." Mark reminded her.

"Small corrections, small corrections." Emily murmured, reminding herself.

As they came closer to the caravan, Mark saw guards run out and aim guns at them.

"No shooting!" Ghost shouted. "We're interested in trading."

Somebody barked orders and the guards lowered their weapons.

"It's Fat Slimm's caravan." Ghost explained.

"Who?" Mark frowned.

"That's what people call him." Ghost said. "He's good news for you, Mark; he's a weapons merchant and ally of the NCR."

"The AK-112 isn't that bad." Mark shrugged.

"I didn't say that it was, but it's not your kind of gun." Ghost stated. "You need something new."

"If you insist."

As Mark exited the Humvee, he saw why the owner of the caravan was called Fat Slimm. The man was enormous; his legs were clearly struggling with the weight of the body they were trying to support and his jacket was about to burst.

"Who're you?" He demanded.

"You don't recognise me?" Ghost inquired.

"I try not to remember Ghouls." Fat Slimm stated. "What do you lot want?"

"Weapons." Ghost answered. "That's all you ever sell."

Fat Slimm faltered for a moment. "We've made some sales. We've only got a few."

"Whatever. Show us."

Slimm barked some more orders and some of his guards hauled some crates over and opened them.

Mark, Ghost and Jill surveyed the contents and frowned.

"Ghost?" Mark prompted.

"He wasn't kidding." Ghost said.

There were only a few handguns, improvised weapons and one or two SMGs inside.

"Unless I want to replace the AK with an Uzi, I'm out of luck." Mark commented.

Ghost picked up one of the Uzis. "You usually sell assault weaponry, Slimm." He said. "Where did they go?"

"I sold them." Slimm answered lamely.

"To who?"

"Some… guys, NCR guys."

"Since when did the NCR buy Uzis?"

"You said…"

"You always carry weapons in bulk, which means that you'd usually carry say… forty Uzis or something like that." Ghost casually checked the Uzi's magazine. It was loaded. "And we know a certain group that likes Uzis."

"And they are?"

"The Heaven's Devils." Ghost aimed the Uzi at Slimm. "Tell your men to back down."

"What if I don't?"

"Then I fire a nine millimetre round through your neck, your men shoot me, we all lose." Ghost didn't back down. "Your choice."

Slimm shivered slightly. "Men, stand down." Despite the odds, he was still scared of dying.

"Who did you sell the weapons to?"

"The Heaven's Devils."

"For how much?" Mark asked. "What did they pay with?"

Slimm paused again. "They didn't pay. They attacked us, took my sister, said they'd let her live if I gave them weapons. I haven't seen her for two weeks."

"Now it makes sense." Jill murmured. "They were always well armed, but even rocket launchers were out of their hands, until they found you, Slimm."

"Yes, I remember a few bazookas being the prizes of your collection." Ghost added. "And you gave them most of your arms?"

"I had no choice!" Slimm rasped, his face turning red. "They threatened to attack Dustdown. The rest of my family is stuck there. I know that I've never been an honest or a good man, but I want them to be safe."

Ghost read his expression carefully before standing back and putting the Uzi down. "Where are they?"

"On their way to Fort Grey." Slimm answered. "It's their main base, in Montana."

"Why didn't they get their weapons from there?" Gabby frowned.

"Because the US military cleared it out before the bombs fell," Slimm wiped the sweat off his face. "They had very little. So they needed me."

"And the nearest outpost or camp?" Ghost asked.

"Uh… uh… Area Forty, it's an old military facility, stored prototype weaponry before the war." Slimm paused. "So…"

"We didn't hear this from you." Ghost stated. "If we find your sister, we'll send her to the nearest settlement."

"Brightlight?"

"That'll do." Ghost nodded. "You might want to turn around and camp there."

Slimm nodded and hurried off, shuffling away as fast as he could.

"Jesus, Ghost!" Gabby breathed. "That was bad-ass!"

"Who's Jesus?" Emily inquired.

"It worked, didn't it?" Ghost shrugged. "At least we know where to go next."

"Area Forty." Jill muttered. "Don't tell me, all the conspiracy theories were true."

"Most of them. Area Fifty-One was great fun."

Jill stared after him as he calmly climbed back into the Humvee.

_They're all mad. _Jill shook her head. _At least it's a good kind of mad._

* * *

Longbeard was sitting inside one of the long buildings used as a barracks in Area Forty when the messenger arrived. Longbeard stopped honing his blade and looked up.

A Frumentarii with armed escorts. Not a good sign.

Longbeard glanced at Jacko, who flicked his SPAS-12 to semi-automatic fire. Wasp was next to the door, with Webb's MP-40 in his hands.

"You're a long way from home," Longbeard commented, slowly reaching down to grasp the grip of his revolver.

"I come bearing news." The Frumentarii announced. "Our war against the profligates goes well on some fronts, ill on others."

"Which ones?"

"I am not at liberty to say." The Frumentarii answered. "But you must send your tribute of captured slaves further east. Our men will retrieve them."

"And suppose that I don't see any point in offering you slaves now?"

The Frumentarii's escorts reached for their weapons.

"Tread carefully, raider." The Frumentarii growled.

"I've been attacking caravans for a year now, and I've reaped the benefits." Longbeard grinned maliciously. "I don't need you or your little Legion anymore."

"We've come for the safe you took from the Leatherbacks. Give it to us, and we will not bring the wrath of the Legion down upon you."

"And what is in this safe?"

"We believe that it is money of some kind."

"As we thought," Longbeard murmured. "The NCR wants to get Salvation breathing again. Well, this is an _interesting _position." Longbeard pulled out his revolver. "I could put that little town out of its misery." He mimed shooting somebody. "Or I could invest in it myself."

"Salvation is not yours to take."

"Well, I might have feared the wrath of your little Legion _if _you and your pals had made it back to your commander _alive_."

"What do you mean by…"

He was cut off by Longbeard, who calmly shot him in the chest. The blast of Jacko's shotgun shredded one of the bodyguards, Wasp riddled the other one.

Longbeard stood up and slowly walked over to the dying Frumentarii. "One day, the Heaven's Devils will surpass your stupid, backwards Legion. _We _are the thorns in the side of the Bear. You're just the Bulls charging into barricades you can't break." Longbeard aimed his gun at the man's head. "And only the strongest survive." He fired.

"Nice one, Boss." Jacko nodded.

"How fun." Wasp added happily. "What now?"

"Dispose of the bodies in the desert." Longbeard ordered. "I don't care. We're striking out now, and we're going to be top of the heap."

* * *

"Who's cooking?" Walter grumbled as he walked over to the fire.

"Ghost." Jill answered as she poked and prodded her beans.

"You're letting a _Ghoul _cook _our _food?" Walter exclaimed.

"I'm right here, you know." Ghost didn't look up from the skewered iguana he was holding over the fire. "And for your edification, I'm not contagious, I'm not emitting radiation, everything here is slightly radioactive and I'm good at cooking."

Walter didn't believe him. "Yeah, well I'm going to cook my own food from now on."

"Ghost's cooking is better than vault food." Emily stopped chewing her food. "And none of us are dead yet."

"Or Ghouls." Ghost added casually.

"And how long have you been on the surface, vault girl?" Walter asked.

"A year," Emily answered. "And stop calling me vault girl, my name is Emily."

"And you think you know everything, eh?"

"I'm a fast learner."

"Enough," Jill sighed irritably. "Walter, if you're going to be such a drama queen, go and make your own food."

Walter fumed silently and waited for Ghost to finish with the fire.

Mark sat next to Emily and put down his rifle. "Main course?"

"A choice of two," Ghost answered. "Beans or iguana?"

"Beans." Mark requested. He smiled at Emily and gave her a quick kiss.

"Get a room, you two." Walter muttered.

"Is he always a killjoy?" Ghost inquired.

"Yes," Jill confirmed. "Walter, please be quiet." She paused. "Where's Lily?"

"She said that she was going to help Jin to fix one of the trucks." Gabby shrugged.

"Ah." Ghost shook his head.

"What do you mean by that?"

"They're not fixing the truck." Ghost stated. "Don't walk in on them. Does anybody want some iguana?"

Emily pressed a few buttons on her Pip-Boy and turned the radio on.

"Does that ever come off?" Fred asked her.

"It's a little tricky to remove, but yes, it does." Emily replied. "Some Pip-Boys don't come off at all."

"So anybody could use yours?"

"No, it's coded to my DNA."

"When do you take it off?" Walter asked.

"Usually when I sleep." Emily answered warily. "Not very often, it's useful."

"When you sleep, eh?" Walter raised his eyebrows. "I guess that sex would be awkward with that on."

Mark rolled his eyes. "Walter, don't make me shoot you."

"You're married to her. I doubt that you just read poetry to each other." Walter smirked.

"So," Gabby said loudly. "Area Forty, do we have a plan?"

"Apart from killing every Heaven's Devil there?" Mara asked as she approached. "Not yet." She noticed Walter exchanging glares with Mark and sneering at Emily. "Problem?"

"Friendly conversation." Walter shrugged. "I was just wondering if your friend had any… _proximity _with anybody in her vault. I mean, vaults are close communities with few people in them."

Emily made a noise between disgust and frustration. "No! I didn't… we had population control."

"Oh, so you lived in a dictatorship."

"Walter," Mara gave Walter a murderous glare. "Fuck off."

Walter read her expression, saw that she was very tempted to shoot him, and decided to leave quickly.

"Thanks, Mara." Emily nodded.

"I know it's a sensitive subject for you." Mara said. "And I'm happy to wipe the smile of that moron's face."

"What is the plan for Area Forty?" Gabby asked expectantly.

"We won't know until we see it." Mark told her. "It might be very different compared to Area Fifty-One. At least I hope it is."

"You've been to Area Fifty-One?"

"Once," Mark stated. "It's a ruin now."

"That was my doing." Emily added.

"And we killed a whole load of Enclave soldiers too." Ghost said.

"You guys are unbelievable!" Gabby stared at them. "What else have you done?"

Mara chuckled. "Gabby, if you really want to know, we're going to be here for a while."

* * *

When the morning sun rose, the sound of engines starting broke the silence.

Mark shut the door of the Humvee, he was driving this time. Emily was the gunner this time; Ghost was in the passenger seat with a pair of binoculars. Mara had Jin as her gunner.

"What were you and Lily up to last night?" Walter asked.

"Stuff." Jin answered casually.

"You were having sex, weren't you?"

"You seem to be obsessed with sex," Jin said. "I hear that you were interrogating Mark and Emily about this."

"So the answer is yes."

"The answer is no." Jin corrected him. "Go and load the trucks, before I get Mara to kick your ass."

Walter decided not to risk it and did as he was told.

"You know, I thought that you really were having sex with Lily." Mara said as she climbed into the Humvee.

"Don't laugh, Mara, but I'm changing my ways." Jin said.

"Seriously?"

"There's something special about Lily, I don't want to rush things with her." Jin explained. "You're not… jealous, are you?"

"Nah," Mara shook her head. "I'm a bit of a sociopath, I'm happy as I am."

"Looks like Mark is on the move." Jin noticed. "Ready?"

"Yeah," Mara put the Humvee into gear. "Area Forty, here we come."

Following directions from Emily's Pip-Boy, they found Area Forty in an hour. Taking Ghost's advice, they parked the vehicles and walked the rest of the way.

Area Forty was within an old open quarry, nestled at the very bottom. It consisted of a two storey building that Ghost suspected hid an underground base.

"Trust me, that's what the Enclave loved to do." Ghost told them.

"How do you know that?" Li inquired.

"It's a long and very complicated story." Ghost said. "I can see at least two watchtowers and two MG nests." He paused. "And what looks like a rocket turret on the roof, and laser turrets."

"You're kidding," Mara groaned.

"Have we got any rocket launchers?"

"We have a grenade launcher."

"The trucks will have to sit this out until we've taken out the turrets." Mark decided. "I think only one plan will work here."

"Hard and fast?" Mara asked.

"Very hard and very fast."

* * *

They returned to the trucks and grabbed extra weapons. Ghost took a spare MP5K as a backup; he was part of the infiltration group. The plan was to get the two Humvees up to the building and deposit a squad to take the automated turrets offline.

Ghost, Lily, Li, Walter and Fred were the infiltration team. Gabby and Jill were riding shotgun in the Humvees.

Mark took the lead, with Jill in the passenger seat next to him, and with Ghost, Li and Fred in the back. Ghost had found a spot to hide the trucks, inside an empty cave.

"Everybody ready?" Mark radioed.

"Ready to cause havoc?" Mara scoffed. "Of course we are."

"Hit it." Jill nodded.

Mark put the pedal to the metal. The tyres kicked up a cloud of dust before the Humvee took off.

They sped onto the curving road down and the gunners turned to open fire.

The Heaven's Devils were sloppy and hardly awake. No bullets hit them.

"Why aren't they firing?" Jill shouted over the roaring engine.

Something pinged off the Humvee. "Now they are," Mark realised. "Open fire!"

Emily squeezed the turret's triggers and unleashed a hail of bullets from both miniguns. Jin copied her example and opened fire.

A rocket whizzed towards them, but the turret was firing at them rather than ahead of them and the rocket hit the ground behind the second Humvee harmlessly.

Mark cornered sharply and the Humvee skidded off the dust and onto the tarmac. Jill aimed her MP5 out of the window and fired a few bursts. Mark floored it and drove the Humvee straight towards the base, weaving to avoid bullets. By now they were within the rocket turret's blind spot, but the laser turrets were still firing.

Mark wrenched the handbrake up and the Humvee skidded round. "Go!"

Ghost jumped out, along with Li and Fred, and sprinted into the building. Mark saw him shoot somebody with his SMG before driving off.

Mara stopped her Humvee on the other side and let her passengers out before going back on the attack.

"Bikes!" Jill yelled.

"Emily, bikes!" Mark relayed.

Emily turned the turret around and mowed down the bikers as they appeared. One of the bikes exploded, taking its rider with it.

A Heaven's Devil ran out and took aim with a bazooka. Mark did the first thing that came to mind and slammed his foot down on the accelerator.

The Devil stared in horror as the armoured Humvee rocketed towards him. Mark heard the impact and felt the vehicle jolt as it crushed the unfortunate man.

"Turn us around!" Jill yelled.

Mark swung the Humvee around using the handbrake and drove back the way he had come. Jill opened her door and somehow managed to grab the bazooka. It was covered in blood, but that didn't stop her from taking aim and blowing up a pair of bikes heading towards them.

"Hell yeah!" Jin whooped from his turret.

Mark cornered sharply, hitting somebody again, and went back to attack.

"TANK!" Emily screamed.

Mark saw an old Sherman tank, covered in spikes and fiery skull motifs, roll out of the garage. "Oh, you have got to be..."

* * *

Ghost kicked the door open and shot the two Devils inside as they reached for their guns. Lily shot one as he came through the next door.

That was when they heard the Sherman fire.

"What the hell was that?" Walter demanded.

"It sounded like a tank." Li murmured.

Ghost moved ahead, moving faster. He sprinted up the stairs, shooting an enemy who tried to ambush them at the top, and reached the second floor.

Li was right, there was a tank trying to shoot the Humvees. The Heaven's Devils had given the Sherman extra armour, which meant that the five millimetre miniguns were useless against it.

"We need a rocket launcher," Ghost turned round. "Lily, take Fred and Walter, see if you can find something downstairs. "Li, you're with me."

They all hurried off. Ghost and Li began to search every room on the second floor. They were having no luck when a Heaven's Devil jumped Li.

They were both grappling with Li's rifle when Ghost heard them. Ghost drew his handgun and shot the Devil in the leg.

The attacker shouted and collapsed. Li shot him in the head.

"Thanks." She breathed.

"There!" Ghost pointed at something.

Li picked it up and handed it to him. "It's an RPG?"

"And old one," Ghost told her. "But it'll do. Come on."

They ran back to the window. Li smashed it with the stock of her rifle and Ghost took aim with the RPG. "Fire in the hole!"

The rocket whooshed out. Ghost was aiming at the back of the tank, its weakest point.

The rocket swerved and hit the tank's right tread. The tank was still working.

"What?" Ghost exclaimed.

"You missed?"

"Rockets aren't my thing." Ghost threw the empty launcher down. "Now what?"

The tank had been damaged though. Its tread was broken and it wasn't going anywhere fast.

Ghost heard somebody running and turned to see Lily shove a bazooka out of the window and fire.

This time, the rocket hit the weak spot and gutted the tank.

Li and Fred whooped as the ruined tank smoked and burnt.

"Nice shot," Ghost told her.

"Where are the Humvees?" Lily glanced around.

"There." Li pointed at the two Humvees, which no longer had to evade the tank and were on the offensive again.

"They're alive!" Lily breathed, putting the bazooka down. "I thought we'd be too late."

"Come on, we still have to take those turrets offline." Ghost reminded them. "I'll take point."

Ghost reloaded his SMG and led the way. Outside, the Humvees continued to wreak havoc.

Not quite like the average day in the wastelands.

* * *

"There!" Emily shouted. "Smoke!"

"They've taken the turrets out." Jill stated.

Mark could see the green smoke billowing from the second floor of the building, the signal they had been waiting for.

"Mara, watch the exits." Mark radioed. "We're going in." He drove the Humvee up to the nearest door and stopped. The three of them exited and moved into the building.

A Devil immediately jumped out and grabbed the barrel of Mark's assault rifle. Unfortunately for him, he was standing right in front of the barrel.

Mark shot him twice in the chest and they simply stepped over the body. Jill shot him twice more, just in case, before moving on.

They followed the sounds of gunfire underground and into a more high-tech area.

Walter and Li were firing at some Heaven's Devils who had them pinned down.

Emily activated VATS just as the two Devils popped up to fire and shot them both in the head.

"Better late than never." Li said as she reloaded her service rifle.

"Where are the others?" Jill frowned at the bullet ridden corridor.

"They went that way." Li pointed at a stairwell going down. "We elected to keep watch here until you showed up."

"Fine," Jill glanced at the stairwell. "What now?"

"We'll go that way." Mark gestured down the corridor with his rifle.

"I didn't sign up for this shit." Walter grumbled.

"Neither did I, but I'm not complaining." Li muttered.

"This is your job," Walter said. "I'm not a soldier."

"Just keep up," Jill ordered.

Emily melted the lock of the door ahead and Mark moved in with Jill backing him up. There was more gunfire as they shot some Devils.

"Clear!" Mark called.

They continued to clear out the rooms until they reached a weapons lab.

The room was lined with thick armour, in case of accidents. There was a plasma weapon mounted on a tripod, it looked like some kind of turret. Years of neglect had not treated it well and it was broken.

Jill, Walter and Li checked the storage room as Emily was drawn to a heavy steel safe with an electronic lock. The base was clear now. They had somehow won without losing anybody, despite the appearance of the tank.

Ghost walked in, saw that there was nobody to shoot, and went back to salvage equipment.

"Mark," Emily called. "Have a look at this."

Mark walked over and saw Emily hacking the lock of the safe. She finished as he approached, pulling the heavy steel door open.

"There are weapons in here, prototypes." Emily explained. "Let's see what they've got."

Mark opened the safe and peered inside. There were two shotguns, both broken, a bulky looking plasma weapon that didn't work, an attempt at making a compact mini-nuke launcher, and an advanced assault carbine.

The carbine was larger than Mark's old carbine, and took 5.56mm ammunition instead of 5mm. It had an ACOG scope attached to the long carrying handle and a toughened polymer casing.

Mark shouldered it and peered down the scope. "I don't suppose this works either." He aimed it at the target down the range, flicked the safety off and gave the trigger a squeeze.

BANG!

Mark was taken by surprise. He was doubly surprised that he had hit the target.

He switched to automatic fire and fired a few short bursts. The gun was accurate and powerful, he had shredded the centre of the target.

"What is this?" Mark asked.

"According to the computer, it's an XM8 assault carbine. This one is a prototype made for conflict on harsh terrains." Emily said. "Production was started just two days before the bombs fell."

"Lucky me then." Mark said as he took a few 5.56mm magazines from the nearby ammo box. "This is better than the AK I've been using." Mark attached a strap to the XM8 and slung it across his shoulder.

* * *

When they exited the base, they found Mara holding a cloth against a gash on the side of her head. Jin was trying to deal with a jammed minigun. Gabby was checking the ruined Sherman for salvage.

"How bad?" Emily asked as she knelt down to examine Mara's wound.

"Not too bad." Mara said. "A bit of shrapnel caught me. If I'd steered left instead of right it would have taken my head off."

Emily glanced at the shard of metal that Mara had torn out of the edge of her seat. "No kidding."

"New toy, Mark?" Jin noticed the XM8 he was carrying.

"Yeah," Mark passed it to him. "A replacement for this rifle." He put the AK-112 in the back of the Humvee as Jin examined the XM8.

"Nice," Jin nodded. "Looks good to me, I should be able to keep this running, assuming that it ever needs fixing."

"The grips apparently melted during testing, when set to full-auto." Emily recalled.

"Melted?" Jin repeated.

"But this one has heat resistant casings." Emily added. "So it should be fine."

Jin handed the XM8 back to Mark. "Well, don't leave this one with a Super Mutant. I think that will better than your old carbine."

Emily put a bandage around Mara's head. Once they had gathered salvage and equipment, they prepared to leave. To Jin's disappointment, the Sherman had been the only tank in the base, and that was far beyond repair.

"We got lucky." Ghost held up a data-card. "This contains the coordinates of every Heaven's Devil base, and they're all in a straight line." He handed the card to Emily, who copied the data from it onto her Pip-Boy.

"The next one is in Idaho, a place called Norville." Emily announced. "According to this, it's a sort of prison camp, where they send their captives to…" She paused, her face showed that she was shocked.

"Go on." Ghost requested.

"It's where they keep slaves before they sell them to the Legion. They are working for Caesar's Legion."

"Holy shit!" Li breathed. "No wonder they attacked us."

"They also keep some of the slaves for themselves, especially women." Emily continued, sounding disgusted. "This is horrible."

"Then we'd better shut them down." Mark declared. "Jin, how are the vehicles?"

"Scarred, but ready to go." Jin answered.

"Load them up," Mark instructed. "We're going to make these bastards regret tangling with us."

* * *

**_Just a few notes for readers: I'm trying to keep the dialogue accurate, as in American, I hope that it's working. I am a little worried about the detail in the action scenes. If you have issues, please let me know. I try my best to make them intense, but I'd like feedback._**

**_For the gun nuts: the XM8 never actually entered full scale production, I know this and I've only used it in _Rainbow Six Vegas 2_. But this is _Fallout_, which has a different timeline. If weapons like the Pancor Jackhammer and the H&K CAWS, which also never entered production, can appear in the games, then I don't see why an XM8 can't appear in this._**

**_As for the tank, apparently Shermans still work in _Fallout Tactics_, the same goes for the Humvees. I guess that people got them working after the bombs fell. _**


	7. Langins' Stop

_**Ladies, gentlemen and other beings, I am delighted to announce that my A levels have come to an end, finally. This means that I can devote more time to my stories. Don't expect me to update daily, I have a life outside of writing and gaming, but I'll be writing more now.**_

* * *

The atmosphere was quiet as the convoy approached the border between Nevada and Idaho.

The sun was going down as they approached, and they noticed that the landscape was changing. The dust was giving way to grass and dirt.

Emily pointed at something in the distance. "Is that a tree?"

"Yeah, it is." Mark answered. "You haven't seen many in the Mojave, have you?"

"No, and I haven't seen much grass before."

"_Bad Attitude_, are we approaching any settlements?" Jill radioed.

"According to my map, a little place called Langins' Stop." Emily said.

"I hope they're friendly." Ghost muttered as he checked his pistol. "Even I like a reprieve from gunfights."

"I'd like a rest too." Emily murmured sleepily. She was the passenger again, and had her eyes closed and her head against the headrest. The Humvee was hardly comfortable, but she was very tired and was trying to sleep anyway.

"We'll see soon enough." Mark also wanted a rest, they needed to resupply at the very least. "Hey, _Road Rage_, how are we for food?"

"Fine for five days." Jill answered. "I don't know which we need more, ammo or food."

"Food, we can't eat ammo."

"Fair enough. _Road Rage _over and out."

The radio beeped. Mark glanced at Emily. She was fast asleep now, looking peaceful despite the shuddering Humvee.

"You know these miniguns…" Ghost began as he climbed down into the Humvee.

"Shh!" Mark hissed. He pointed at Emily.

Ghost nodded and sat down. He located a magazine,_ Locksmith's Reader_, and began to read.

Everything was quiet inside the Humvee, apart from the dull rumble of the engine, tyres bumping over the terrain and Ghost turning the pages of the magazine.

Emily started to murmur something as she slept. Ghost glanced at her, then at Mark.

"She sometimes talks in her sleep." Mark whispered.

"Mmm, no, no, I don't like gecko meat." Emily murmured.

Mark shrugged, knowing that Emily had just made his point. Emily never said anything embarrassing in her sleep, just odd things and funny things.

She did have nightmares though. Even though Mark knew about her past, he had no idea how bad it must have been witness it. He felt sorry for her, hearing about the tragedies that had befallen her in Vault 117. They were like pre-war horror stories if not worse.

Ghost continued to read quietly, Mark kept his eyes on the route. Idaho had been sparsely populated even before the Great War; it had mostly contained military bases for troops annexing Canada, now it had even fewer people in it.

"Dad…"

Mark glanced warily at Emily. There was a slight frown on her face. Mark was starting to think that she was having one of her nightmares.

"No… no… stay away… please don't…" Emily was starting to shout. "NO!" She jolted awake, shivered and panting. "Oh… oh… I was dreaming. It was just… horrible."

"It's okay, Emily." Mark told her.

"I saw Dad, I saw him die again." Emily breathed, her voice wobbling. Mark knew that she had lost her father at a young age, and she had witnessed his death. "And I saw _him_, he wanted to…"

"I know." Mark told her. She was talking about a friend, driven to insanity by the Vault's indoctrination experiments, who had killed everybody except for Emily, and he had started to eat corpses. That was why cannibalism scared Emily.

"I'm sorry." Emily murmured.

"You've got nothing to be sorry about." Ghost told her.

Emily sighed and looked at Mark with sad, haunted eyes. He knew that she wanted to tell him something, but not right now.

"How far to Langins' Stop?" Mark asked.

"Not far now." Emily looked at her map. "We should see it in a few minutes."

They continued to travel in silence. Ghost stuck to reading his magazine. Emily did not sleep and remained tense for the rest of the journey.

"Is this it?" Mark inquired. He could see three structures in the distance. One of them was a house, the other was a shed made of scrap metal and the other looked like an old motel.

"Yeah, that's it." Emily confirmed.

"Ghost, be ready."

Ghost climbed back up to the miniguns, just in case anybody decided to shoot at them.

However, they were, for once, not met by gunfire.

A man in his mid-twenties, rough shaven and with hair down to his shoulders came out of the house. He had a crossbow by his side, not the medieval kind, but was not pointing it at them.

"Hey, we've got visitors!" He called.

As the vehicles rolled up to the house, two more people came out of the house. They were both older than the man with the crossbow. They both had brown hair and blue eyes. The man was carrying a double barrelled shotgun, but he also kept it pointed away from the vehicles and the woman was unarmed.

Mark stepped out of the vehicle, carrying his XM8 but keeping his finger off the trigger.

"You won't need that, son." The older man said. "We won't hurt you. Just gotta be sure." To show this, he placed his shotgun against the wall and held up his hands. "I'm Daniel Langin, this is my wife, Lisa, and this is my youngest son, Mike."

"Hello there," Mike said to Emily. "You feeling okay, girl? You look stressed."

"I'll be okay." Emily said. "I'm Emily. This is my husband, Mark." The introductions from their side took longer.

"You said that Mike is your youngest?" Li noticed. "Where is your eldest?"

"Oh, we call him Tuggy. He'll show up." Daniel told her. "Just don't judge him by his looks, he had an accident."

As if on cue, something shambled around the side of the house, something vaguely human and with tumorous looking growths. He was large and muscular, but drooling and his eyes were slack.

"Ah, here he is," Daniel gestured. "Tuggy was exposed to a big dose of radiation when he was young, poor guy."

"People always misjudge him," Lisa added. "I'm sure you understand." She directed this at Ghost.

"Yeah, I do." Ghost nodded.

"Well, we don't get many visitors." Mike said. "But we'll treat you right."

"Make yourselves at home in the motel," Daniel gestured at the building. "There's a spot for your vehicles too."

"Great," Jill was clearly relieved to meet some hospitable people. "Get the Humvees and trucks under cover."

* * *

Once the trucks were in the garage, they found rooms to stay in. Unsurprisingly, Emily stayed in the same room as Mark, one of the few with a double bed.

Emily was sitting on it, with her head in her hands, as Mark entered.

"Emily?"

"Sorry," Emily sighed, lifting her head. "I've just got a lot on my mind."

Mark put his weapons down and sat down next to her. "Do you want to share?"

"It's just… I haven't thought about Dad, or Mom, for a few months. And now I keep dreaming about when I saw Dad die."

"Were you close to him?"

"When he was alive, yes." Emily nodded slowly. "He used to call me _Little Angel_. I was twelve when he died."

"I hate to ask…" Mark began.

"I thought it was an accident, but it was sabotage." Emily knew what he had been about to ask. She shivered. "I still dream about it, trying to reach him, but I'm always too late."

"And the rest of your nightmares?"

"Jerome and what he did." Emily stated. "My friends, my Mom, everybody else, what he became, how I… killed him."

"And you're still feeling guilty?"

"Not exactly." Emily murmured. "Haunted is a better word for it. I was ready to die before you found me, perhaps I wanted to. But I'm still here."

Mark still remembered that moment. He had been with Ghost, wandering the far edges of the Mojave, looking for salvage. Instead, they had stumbled across Emily.

She had been gazing up at the night sky, as if waiting for something. She had been surprised to see them and had bombarded them with questions. They had given her water and food after answering all they could and had walked away, but she had followed them.

Mark had later learned that she had been wandering away from Vault 117 for almost two weeks, and had come across nothing except for mutated creatures. She had almost become convinced that she was the only human being left in existence, and had been prepared to die when Mark and Ghost had found her. She had been waiting for the end.

"Emily," Mark stroked her cheek and turned her face towards his. "It's natural to feel like this, but you don't need to let your past control you. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, I hate to see you in pain."

Emily managed a smile. "I still remember what you said to me, when you proposed. You said that I was a grain of hope in a handful of dust."

"I was feeling poetic." Mark smiled. "Feeling better?"

"Yes," Emily said. "Thank you, for listening."

"I'm here for you." Mark assured her. "Anytime."

* * *

"I have a bad feeling about this." Gabby muttered.

"Calm down," Walter shrugged as he peeled open the wrapping of an energy bar. "We've got some shelter and the offer of food tomorrow."

"I'm inclined to agree with you, Gabby, but Walter also has a point." Ghost said.

"Eh?" Li frowned.

"We have lodgings and food, but these people are a little… odd."

"Are you talking about that big one?" Walter mumbled as he chewed.

"Tuggy, yes," Ghost nodded. "They said that he was exposed to radiation, but radiation is more likely to turn you into a Ghoul, like me. Tuggy has other problems."

"Where have Mark and Emily got to?" Li asked.

"Probably to sleep." Ghost shrugged. "Mark's been driving solidly for hours and Emily was falling asleep."

"Don't you need to sleep?"

"Occasionally, but not often." Ghost answered. "Are those gecko steaks?"

"Yeah,"

"Pass me one, I'm famished."

Li handed him the steak and Ghost began to eat it. She watched him with a curious expression until he explained his choice.

"I've eaten worse," he said. "And my taste buds are mostly gone. If the others told you that I eat radroach meat, they were telling the truth."

"Seriously?"

"It's got a lot of protein." He glanced at Gabby. "I'll keep an eye out for trouble."

"Thanks, but I still feel uneasy," Gabby tugged out her handgun and chambered a round. "Walter, didn't we tell you to cut back on the grub?"

* * *

Mark buckled up his belt and picked up his pistol. The notches had never been added to since his NCR days.

"Mark?" Emily sat up and leaned against him, placing her chin on his shoulder. "You can't sleep?"

"No, I need to clear my head." Mark put the pistol down and reached back to stroke Emily's hair.

"You like doing that." Emily smiled.

"You have nice hair." Mark smiled back. "Have I told you how beautiful you are?"

"Twice." Emily answered. "If you ignore the burn."

"We've all got scars." He didn't really mind, despite the fact that Emily had a scar from an acid burn down from the base of her neck to the end of her spine.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay, for the rest of the night?"

Mark turned his head. Emily pressed against him, looking up at him with her clear blue eyes.

"Okay." Mark kissed her cheek.

A distant crack made him look up and listen. Emily must have heard it too.

"Gunshot." Mark grabbed his pistol. Emily scrambled for her vault suit and managed to fall off the bed.

Mark left her to it, knowing that she would be fine but a little embarrassed, and exited the room with his gun ready.

"Boss?" Ghost was in the hallway, also armed with his pistol. "You heard that? Where's Emily?"

"She's fine," Mark gestured down the corridor with his gun. "Ideas?"

"Maybe one of the Langins is out hunting."

"I don't know. Mike had a crossbow."

Fred hurried down the hallway. "Was that a gunshot?"

"What else could it be?" Ghost challenged. "Fireworks?"

Emily hurried out of the room, almost running into the wall. She was wearing her jumpsuit, but had not equipped her armour. "Right, which way?"

Ghost led the way down the hall, pistol loaded and ready. They made it down to the ground floor when they saw somebody.

"Relax," it was Walter. "It's just Daniel, he went hunting."

"Why didn't he use the crossbow?" Ghost asked.

"He prefers the shotgun."

"So we've just…" Mark grimaced. "We're getting really jumpy, Ghost."

"Tell me about it." Ghost muttered. "This is why I hunt with a silencer."

* * *

Daniel apologised to them for the incident in the morning. Gabby was still wary of the Langins though, and wondered about what they had been shooting at.

Jin spent most of his time fixing the Humvees, which had been shot a lot during the attack on Area Forty. Lily brought him breakfast.

"Wasteland omelettes?" Jin asked as he tinkered with the engine of _Moody Bitch_.

"I saved them," Lily explained. "Come on, you've got to be hungry."

"Starving." Jin wiped his hands on a cloth and sat down in the back of the Humvee with her, they had nowhere else to sit in the garage. "You know what goes in these, right?"

"Of course," Lily handed him one. "I made them."

"Really?"

"I'm a decent cook." Lily smiled. "And despite the added ingredients, I like these."

Jin bit into his omelette and decided that Lily really was a good cook. "Mmm, you should make these more often."

"The next time we run across lakelurk and deathclaw nests, I'll think about it." She laughed. "I know that people turn their noses up to these, but wastelanders have to eat."

"Ghost would agree with you." Jin said. "And so do I."

"So, you tinker with engines?" Lily asked casually.

"Guns mostly, and engines when they're around." Jin answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious." Lily said. "I was just thinking last night, if you hadn't come with us, we'd be stuck, if not dead."

"Thanks for the appreciation."

"You're not just good for fixing stuff," Lily leaned closer. "Are you, Jin?"

"Well, I'm happy to back that up."

* * *

Emily was sitting on a plastic chair in the sun outside the motel when Mark wandered out.

"Morning," Emily called cheerily.

"Sorry about last night." Mark told her as he sat down.

"It's fine." Emily pushed a cup of coffee towards him. "At least it's a lovely day today; I can stay outside without boiling to death."

"Patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter." Mark recalled. "At least, that's what a lot of NCR soldiers told me."

"I sympathise." Emily agreed. "Mara said that she was looking for you, by the way."

"Okay," he pecked her on the cheek before picking up his coffee. "Thanks, I'll see you later."

Emily smiled at him and nodded. She stayed at the table, slowly drinking her coffee.

She heard footsteps and looked up just as Lisa Langin sat down at the table. "Emily, right?"

"Yeah, that's me." Emily felt suddenly uneasy.

"You stick out like a sore thumb," Lisa said. "As the youngest at least, a vault dweller and as a married woman."

Emily glanced at the ring on her finger. "Yeah, I suppose I do." It was true that she was the youngest person in the group, and her attire made her stick out. Despite the lack of subtly the pale blue Vault 117 suit, she kept it because it just seemed wrong to throw it away; wastelanders had to make do and mend.

"Where is Mark from?" Lisa asked.

"California." Emily answered. "He grew up on a farm near Shady Sands."

"I was worried that he was one of those Baggers, they're not far from here." Lisa shrugged. "They "marry"women, but they use that as a form of ownership, they're slavers."

Emily frowned slightly. "Mark definitely didn't enslave me or anything like that."

"I can see that now, Baggers are cruel men."

"You've seen them?"

"They come and go," Lisa explained. "Slavers have to hunt long distances in Idaho; there aren't many people in the state." Seeing Emily's expression she added: "We don't like them, they stay away from us."

Emily couldn't see why a slaver group would avoid Langin's Stop. They had few weapons and, apart from fences and a few stretches of razor wire, no defences.

She didn't like the sound of these Baggers, and wondered if they would be able to deal with them on the way to Fort Grey.

"Why do they call themselves Baggers?" She asked.

"They catch people in nets and call it "bagging", I don't know."

Jill walked past. Emily noticed that she was not carrying her MP5, for once, unlike Gabby, who was still wary.

"Ghost says that Mike's planning a scouting run," Jill announced. "He's looking for volunteers, reckons he can cover more ground with more people."

"I stay here," Lisa stated. "Always do."

"If they need help, I'll go." Emily decided. She picked up her rifle. "I'm ready."

Walter had the same idea, and knelt down to open the garage shutter. The shutter clattered open, spilling sunlight into the garage.

"What the…" Walter stared.

Emily looked inside and saw why Walter was staring.

Jin and Lily had been getting intimate in the back of a Humvee, Lily was not wearing much. Lily was now hiding behind one of the seats, looking very embarrassed. Jin was gesturing fiercely at Walter to leave.

Emily jumped up and brought the shutter down. The shutter nearly scraped Walter's nose as he gawped.

"You could come back later." Emily said. "Or use the fire escape to get to your stuff from the rooms."

"But I left my rifle in one of the trucks." Walter argued.

"Maybe you could borrow a gun?" Emily suggested tentatively. "Or just use your sidearm?"

"Oh sure, give me your laser, it does look a little too bulky for you."

"Quit your whining, Walter." Jill sighed. "Stay here. They only need one more person, and since Emily hasn't misplaced any of her guns she can go."

"Jill," Walter gestured at the garage shutter. "Have you missed the fact that one of your employees is getting involved with… a hitchhiker?"

"What Lily gets up to with other people isn't my problem, so long as nobody is being harmed." Jill said. "I don't ask _you _what you do in your spare time, do I? And I know what you were doing in the Den the last time we were there."

Walter scowled. "Fine, fine. Just don't come crying to me later." He turned away from the garage and walked away, probably to shout at somebody.

"He's not happy, is he?" Emily murmured.

"He's a pain in the ass most days, but he's good at his job." Jill said. "Ghost is waiting on the east side, better get going if you want to go with them."

Emily slung her rifle across her back and jogged to the east side. Ghost was zeroing his scope when she arrived, shooting at an old scarecrow propped against a tree.

"My sights were a bit off." Ghost heard her approaching. "I think they're better now."

Emily looked up at the bullet holes in the scarecrow, noticing the perfect headshot that had been his most recent shot. "Yeah, I think you've got it just right."

"You're coming with us?" Gabby asked.

"I'd like to," Emily confirmed. "Problem?"

"No," Gabby shook her head. "Just checking. I've seen you in action, you're a good shot."

"You all ready?" Mike called. "We've gotta get going soon."

"We're ready." Ghost reloaded his rifle. "Lead on."

* * *

Mark was reminded slightly of home as he walked down the path, only this place had more grass and fewer brahmin. He'd grown up on a brahmin ranch, too small to really turn a profit or trouble the brahmin barons and people like "Hurricane" Heck Gunderson.

It was long gone now, probably taken over by another farmer.

He remembered hunting local animals, mostly mole-rats and geckos, for food. Joining the NCR had guaranteed more money, but that hadn't gone well in the end.

"Are you busy?"

Mark turned to see Li catching up to him. "Not really."

Li was quiet for a few moments as they walked, until she finally asked: "Why did you leave the NCR?"

"I don't like to talk about it." Mark answered. "The short version is that I ended up on a dodgy mission, lost a lot of men, and I didn't want to stick around."

"Vasquez seemed to think that you were some sort of deserter, or a traitor."

"I was facing dishonourable discharge," Mark explained. "Walking out was easier. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather support the NCR than people like Caesar's Legion, it's not like I betrayed them."

"Fair enough." Li shrugged. "I still can't believe that I'm the only trooper left in this group. Apart from you, as a former trooper, or… sorry."

"I was a Ranger, actually, but I know what you mean," Mark said. "Look, I made a few bad calls, I joined the wrong division and I paid for it. I didn't leave because I hated the NCR."

"I see." Li nodded. "I guess that Vasquez was wrong about you."

Mark caught sight of Walter and Fred standing next to the fence, Walter was clearly annoyed about something.

"… Lily's having it off with somebody who's not even part of our crew and probably can't be trusted." Walter was saying.

"Whatever, I'm not really interested." Fred kept glancing around as if trying to find an escape route.

Walter lit a cigarette. "One thing I don't get is how Jin got so lucky. Lily always ignores me and she's not interested in you."

"Maybe Jin's her type." Mark suggested as he approached. "What brought this up?"

"Walter caught them at… something." Fred explained. "Sounds like they were making out."

"Okay, you don't need to go into detail." Mark told him. "So…"

He was cut off by a gunshot, and this wasn't one of the Langins hunting, the bullet cracked the fencepost next to him.

"Down!" Li yelled. "Get down!"

Mark threw himself down into the grass and unslung his carbine. "Where are they?"

"Twelve and eleven o'clock." Li fired a couple of shots.

Walter had been hit. He was behind a rock, blood was running from his arm, cursing. "Just when I needed my fucking rifle! Son of a bitch!"

Mark saw something move and fired a short burst.

The shape jolted and fell, rolling down the slope and crashing into the fence in front of them. The dead man was wearing patchwork leather and cloth armour. A crudely made pipe-rifle had rolled down the slope with him.

Mark saw another shape move and fired at it. Again, the man toppled and fell down the slope. At least the XM8 was accurate.

Not all of the attackers were armed with pipe-rifles though, some of them had pistols, bolt action rifles and Mark could hear an SMG being fired.

"Hey!" Fred yelled. "Can we talk about this?"

"They're shooting at us!" Li shouted at him. "Shoot back!"

"Stop shooting!" Somebody on the slope shouted. "I said _stop _you stupid pricks!"

The gunfire ceased.

"What do you want?" Fred shouted.

"You ever heard of the Baggers?"

"Slavers." Walter hissed. "Is anybody going to help me out here?"

"It's just a flesh wound," Mark sighed. "Deal with it." Since the fight had paused, he reloaded quietly.

"Sort of," Fred answered the Bagger's question. "We're not here for trouble."

"You are if you're staying with the Langins."

"You've got a problem with them?"

"You should." The Bagger shouted. "What?" He was talking to somebody else. "You're right. Fire!"

More bullets hit the ground around them. But somebody had heard the gunfire.

Mark heard the Humvee before he saw it. _Moody Bitch _stopped behind them. Mara swung the guns around and opened fire.

The Baggers had not been ready for miniguns. They began to retreat, yelling and panicking as they went. Mara didn't relent until they were all gone or dead.

"Are you okay?" Jill called from the driving seat.

"Walter's hit, but he'll live." Li said. "He's still whining about it though."

"Oh, shut your trap." Walter grimaced.

Mara glanced down from the turret at Mark. "Good test for your new gun?"

"It's actually better than my old one." Mark told her.

"Maybe, but it's good for you that we heard the gunfire." Mara glanced at the slope beyond the fence. "We'd better move before those jerks come back. I hope that the guys with Mike don't run into them."

* * *

_**I apologise for the delays. There are a few reasons for this. I'm still getting used to my newfound freedom; this includes gaming and going out and about as well as writing, and not just fanfics. In other words, I have a lot on the go all at once, and I can't write 24/7.  
**__**But I give my fans a big thanks for sticking with me all the way, even when I seemed to have stopped. **_


	8. What it takes

_**Sorry about the long delay. I've been working on another project and I've been job hunting. You know what they say: "No rest for the wicked."**_

* * *

A trio of bikers were busy toying with a Bagger when Longbeard heard the news.

Area Forty had been attacked, invaded and completely decimated with many weapons taken or destroyed. The destroyed weapons included one of their valuable tanks.

It was true that Sherman tanks had thin armour and a small cannon, but they were still tanks, and in a world where few vehicles were left running and few people knew how to use them, tanks were worth their weight and firepower in gold.

"Who?" Longbeard growled, even though he could guess. He knew who had attacked his Nevada outpost, because they had taken their equipment and trucks back.

"It looks like it was the Leatherbacks," the messenger answered. "The only working camera showed a Humvee, the scouts recovered this picture from a computer linked to the camera." He held out a photograph.

Longbeard took it and frowned. It was blurred because the camera had been trying to track a fast moving Humvee. But he recognised the face of the man who wore a Ranger's trench coat and the vault dweller.

"Them," Longbeard handed the photograph to Jacko. "They've taken out _two _bases now."

"At least we know where the Humvees went." Jacko passed the photo to Wasp.

"Answer me this, Jacko," Longbeard tugged his revolver out of its holster. "How did eleven people take out the garrison of both the Breaker's Den and Area Forty?"

"Maybe they got lucky," Jacko shrugged.

"No, they've got people with military training among them." Longbeard stated. "They're outsmarting us, and we can't have that. Strength allows survival, nothing else." He noticed that the messenger was out of breath. "You rode a bike?"

"Of course, boss." The messenger replied.

"And you're out of breath? Pathetic." Longbeard shot him. He shot him because the news was bad, he was annoyed and the man was unfit. Only the strongest survived in this world, he did not tolerate weakness among his own.

He knew that the day would come when he would be too old and weak to lead the Heaven's Devils, and he knew that somebody stronger would replace him. But that was life, and that day was not coming anytime soon if he had any say in the matter.

He'd be damned if some random wanderers were going to take him down. He would have to kill them first.

"Wasp," Longbeard turned to the youngest of his elites. "Take some men and track these sons of bitches down. I don't care how you kill them. Just make sure that they die."

Wasp grinned eagerly. "Whatever you say, boss."

* * *

"So what were you shooting at last night?" Gabby inquired.

"A couple of giant ants," Mike answered. "Can't have them eating the brahmin, they keep us alive."

Ghost was slightly ahead of them, eyes scanning the horizon. He had been through Idaho once, but was more familiar with Oregon. Nevertheless, he seemed to know what to expect from the wasteland.

"It's the wild dogs that worry me," Ghost said. "They're more aggressive out here and they roam in big packs."

"We've got your machinegun." Mike gestured at Gabby's MP5.

"Hopefully we won't need it." Gabby muttered. "And it's a submachine gun, there's a difference: a machinegun is usually bigger."

Emily glanced around. Idaho was colder than the Mojave, considering that the average Mojave day gave her sunburn within a few hours. At least that was less of a problem out here.

"You enjoying yourself, girl?" Mike asked.

"I'm just getting used to the scenery," Emily said. "Can you stop calling me _girl_, please, my name is Emily."

"I know that, girl." Mike smirked.

"Never mind." Emily sighed.

"So apart from ants and wild dogs, what can we expect out here?" Gabby asked.

"Mole-rats, radroaches, mirelurks, giant wasps, maybe one or two nightstalkers, the odd Super Mutant, deathclaws," Ghost recalled, "no cazadores though."

"You've been here before?" Mike raised his eyebrows.

"Once." Ghost nodded. "I've been to a lot of places."

"That must have taken a few years."

"More than a few." Ghost paused and glanced back down the path. "Was that gunfire?"

"Might have been," Mike didn't stop walking. "Probably Baggers shooting at some raiders."

"You get raiders here?" Ghost frowned. "Ever heard of the Heaven's Devils?"

"Even the Baggers avoid them," Mike said. "They don't bother us. We're not worth their time."

Emily had her doubts about that. The Heaven's Devils seemed to pick on anybody who seemed to be weaker than them. They didn't really have any reason to avoid Langins' Stop, unless the Langins had an army of robots or trained deathclaws in the basement, and that was very unlikely.

Emily glanced back down the path and paused for a moment, worrying about the gunfire they had briefly heard.

"Getting cold feet?" Mike asked.

"It is a bit cooler than the Mojave out here." Emily agreed, shifting her feet.

"That's not what I meant, girl." Mike said. "You were hesitating."

"Oh, right," Emily grimaced, she still felt naïve and a little ignorant. "No, I'm okay. Sorry, I've spent most of my life underground."

Mike gave her an odd look, then shrugged and continued to walk. Emily hesitated for another second before following the others along the path.

Very little happened as they walked, they had lapsed into silence. Mike seemed to know where to go, but Emily trusted Ghost's sense of direction and sharp eyes more. She also had her Pip-Boy for navigation and threat detection.

Mike had not specified how long they would be out for. As it turned out, they were walking around the Langins' territory for several hours. It was an uneventful walk, until they approached a fissure with a stream running through it.

"This is one spot for gathering water." Mike told them. "We prefer to use the well though, or get water from traders."

"What do you trade with?" Emily asked.

"Mostly brahmin meat," Mike answered. "It keeps them happy."

"I could do with a drink," Gabby shook her canteen. "It's empty."

"Well, the stream's there." Mike gestured at the water. "Help yourself."

"Be careful, Gabby." Emily advised. "The ground looks a little… unstable."

Gabby had noticed. Rather than climb down, she tied a length of string to the neck of her canteen and lowered it into the water. She pulled it after a few second and took a sip.

"That's not bad." She decided. "Better than the water I had to grow up with in Klamath." She glanced at Emily, who seemed to be stuck between checking the water with her Pip-Boy and drinking some of it herself. "I suppose you had very safe water back in your Vault."

"Mostly," Emily shrugged. "We had some problems with the filters. I heard that one Vault had a faulty water chip."

"If it was safer than the outside, why did you leave?"

"I didn't say that it was perfect." Emily frowned slightly. "I couldn't leave at first, anyway. In the end, I had little choice."

"Why?"

Emily hesitated. "Something went wrong. People died." She left it at that. "The Vault's gone now. It blew up." She sighed. "Can we talk about something else? How about your home?"

"Klamath?" Gabby chuckled. "Klamath isn't much. People make a living off brahmin and hunting geckos, it's not paradise."

"Sounds better than the Vault." Emily muttered.

"You've got sun and sky out here," Gabby said. "Unless you had simulations."

"No." Emily shook her head. "No sims, just the Vault. Other Vaults had some, but we didn't."

"Are you two finished?" Mike called. "Get a move on, we've gotta get back before it gets dark."

"Okay," Gabby put her canteen away. "Somebody's in a hurry."

It was Ghost who spotted it. A distant flash of light, the glint of sunlight reflecting off a scope.

There was a distant crack and something hit the dirt at Gabby's feet. Gabby jumped back, toppled, and fell into the fissure. Emily heard rocks fallings as Gabby knocked them loose, then an agonised scream.

"Sniper!" Mike yelled a little too late.

Ghost was already in action, crouched down and aiming. Luckily, their attacker was an amateur. It was a long shot. The enemy sniper hadn't taken that into account.

Ghost fired once, aiming a little higher to compensate for the distance.

His trick paid off. The bullet started to fall, but it still hit the sniper in the chest.

Ghost made sure that there were no more snipers around before turning back to the others.

Emily was clambering down into the fissure. Gabby was lying in the water, clearly in pain.

Emily grimaced when she saw the problem. Gabby's leg was twisted and she could see the bone poking through. Her arm was trapped beneath a heavy rock, it had been crushed.

"Get me the fuck out of here!" Gabby cried, her eyes were watering.

"Okay, I'll try." Emily tried to lift the stone, but it was too heavy. Even if Jin or Mark had been in her place, they couldn't have lifted it. Emily tried as hard as she could, but all she did was increase Gabby's pain.

"Gotta hurry there, girl." Mike called unhelpfully.

"Can you get her out?" Ghost peered down at them.

"I can't!" Emily exclaimed helplessly. "This rock is too heavy. We need help!"

"There's no time," Mike glanced at Ghost. "We have to get her out now, or leave her."

"What?" Gabby yelped.

"No," Emily was disgusted by the thought of leaving Gabby to bleed to death just to save her own skin. "I'm not leaving her here."

There was blood everywhere, Emily realised that Gabby would bleed to death if she didn't hurry. Gabby was starting to turn pale, not a good sign, and was becoming faint.

"Emily, have you got a knife?" Ghost called.

"Yes, why?" Emily glanced up.

"Emily," Ghost's voice was grave. "It's the only way."

"What's the only way?" Gabby demanded.

Realisation dawned on Emily. It made her feel sick, but Ghost was right, it was the only way she could save Gabby from a slow death.

Emily slowly drew her combat knife. "Gabby, I'm so sorry."

"Oh no," Gabby shook her head and tried to free herself. "No, no, no! Don't you dare! Don't you fucking dare!"

"We need to get back, girl," Mike shouted. "Night's falling."

"Don't cut it off!" Gabby pleaded. "Get me out! Try harder!"

"Emily, you have no choice." Ghost stated sadly. "Just make it quick."

Emily had never amputated a limb before, but she had enough medical training to know what to do. Even so, she was hesitant and conflicted. But if she faltered any longer, Gabby would die slowly and painfully. She couldn't do that, she had no choice.

Emily grasped the knife tightly, shivering. "I'm sorry, Gabby." Without another word, she brought it down.

Gabby screamed. It was a desperate howl that made blood run cold, blood spurted from her arm. Emily was at an awkward angle, cutting through the skin, muscle and bone was difficult. She'd kept her knife sharp, but it was still agonisingly slow and painful.

Gabby fell back, screaming, as her lower arm was separated from her. Blood hit Emily in the face and Gabby fell silent. She had passed out, which wasn't surprising.

Emily ripped a bandage out of her pack, tying it hurriedly around Gabby's arm. Blood soaked it and turned it red almost immediately and Emily's hands came away covered in blood. The water around her had turned crimson.

"Ghost, Mike!" Emily shouted. "I need some help."

Ghost reached down and Emily held up Gabby's intact arm for him. Ghost was stronger than his withered and rotted flesh implied, and he lifted Gabby out without much trouble. He reached down again and helped Emily to climb up.

"Holy cow!" Mike grimaced when he saw Gabby. "What the hell were you doing down there?"

"Saving her life." Emily murmured. "Can you carry her?"

Mike grimaced and shook his head. "Honestly, she looks like she belongs in a slaughterhouse."

"Then I'll fucking do it!" Emily snapped angrily. "You're a damn coward." She had only asked because Gabby was taller and heavier than she was. Emily managed to lift Gabby up, but couldn't carry or really drag her.

"Mike, help her, now!" Ghost barked.

"But I need to watch the path." Mike protested.

"My eyes are sharper than yours," Ghost growled. "Now pull your weight and help Emily. We can argue later. Gabby's losing blood, get on with it."

Mike reluctantly took Gabby's other arm. Ghost took the lead as Emily and Mike half dragged, half carried the unconscious Gabby back to Langins' Stop.

Emily was worrying the whole way. Gabby had lost a lot of blood, and the loss of an arm could be detrimental in the wastelands.

When they reached Langins' Stop, Ghost ran ahead for help.

Emily was relieved to see Jin and Mara hurry over and relieve her and Mike of Gabby. The two of them carried Gabby into the Langins' house, insisting that they needed a clean environment.

If Emily had been worried, Jill was close to a panic attack. She almost ran into Emily. "What the hell happened?" She demanded.

Emily tried to explain as well as she could, but Jill was still demanding answers. Things got worse when Emily reached the part where she had to amputate Gabby's arm.

"You did _what_?" Jill screamed. "You cut her arm off?"

"I had no choice!"

"Gabby can't fight with one arm. You've pretty much killed her!"

Emily never saw it coming, but she felt Jill hit her. She reeled, her vision blurring for a moment, and felt blood running from her lip.

Jill looked like she was about to hit Emily again. Before she could, Ghost grabbed her and turned her forcefully to face him.

"Control yourself!" Ghost ordered. "Emily did what she had to do, or would you be happier if Gabby was bleeding to death back there?"

"You son of a…"

"Emily!" Jin shouted from the house. "We need you here!"

Emily ignored Ghost and Jill and hurried into the house.

Gabby was lying on the kitchen table, partially conscious and dazed. The bandages Emily had used were soaked with blood and useless now.

"The bleeding won't stop." Mara stated. "I think we're beyond healing powder and stimpaks now. I tried to set the leg, but I'm not sure if I've done it right."

"You've done a good job." Emily put her medical bag onto the nearest chair and rummaged around for a few seconds. "Great." She grimaced. "Now I'm out of med-x." She noticed Daniel loitering in the corner. "Have you got any painkillers? Med-x? Morphine?"

"She's only half awake." Daniel gestured at Gabby.

"She won't be for much longer, and I've got to deal with that wound." Emily heaved a frustrated sigh as she realised that she had few bandages, needles and stiches left too. "Mara, I need you to heat something for me."

"You're going to cauterise the wound." Mara guessed.

"Do you have a better idea?"

"I wasn't arguing." Mara turned on the stove. "I understand. Daniel, get her some painkillers. This will _really _hurt."

"No, no," Daniel held up his hands. "There's no need. Lisa has medical supplies and training, she can see to Gabby's wounds."

Emily sighed again and closed her bag before sitting down on another chair. "Maybe she can do a better job than I can." She murmured.

As if on cue, again, Tuggy shuffled into the room. Lisa gave him instructions and Tuggy carried Gabby out of the house with Lisa following him.

Emily held her head in her hands. "Damn it! Why did this have to happen?"

Jin put a hand on her shoulder. "It's not your fault, Emily."

"I cut her arm off, Jin. I nearly killed her. As far as Jill is concerned, I _have _killed her."

"There was a man in my tribe who was born with a withered hand." Mara recalled. "And he lived for a long time, even though he had to fight at times."

"You did the right thing, Emily." Jin assured her. "Let's just hope that Lisa can do the rest. You need some shuteye."

"I'm not sure if I can sleep this off. Where's Mark?"

"On the perimeter." Jin answered. "There was a fight. Some Baggers came calling."

"I thought that they didn't bother the Langins."

"Things change, I guess." Jin shrugged. "All I know is that we can't stay here for much longer."

* * *

Mark was patrolling along the fence with Fred, looking for trouble, when Ghost brought the news.

Mark had wanted to see Emily immediately and Ghost had taken his spot on the patrol.

Mark found Emily in the garage, sitting in one of the Humvees. She had been crying. Her eyes were red and wet.

Mark sat next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. "Ghost told me."

"I screwed up, Mark." Emily murmured.

"No, you did everything you could." Mark told her. "I'll have a word with Jill later, bring her round. She's upset because Gabby is a close friend, I'd be just as worried if you had been injured."

"How is Gabby?"

"I don't know." Mark said. "But it sounds touch and go. Emily, you did the right thing."

Emily sniffled. "You're right." She muttered. "I'm being stupid."

"You're never stupid, Emily." Mark stroked her hair. "You didn't panic, you didn't run, you did all that you could. That's what counts." He smiled at her. "Remember your IQ?"

"One-hundred and fifty-four," Emily recalled.

"How can you be stupid when you're a genius?"

Emily sighed. "I can't sit here and feel sorry for myself," she decided. "What can I do?"

"I'm not sure," Mark shrugged. "The Langins are getting some sort of dinner ready, are you going to eat with us?"

"I don't feel hungry."

"I understand." Mark nodded. He didn't move from the seat.

Emily glanced at him. "You're not going either?"

Mark shook his head. "You know, this might sound stupid, but I have a bad feeling about this." He sat up, pulled out his pistol and chambered a round. "I'm going to have a look around. Are you coming?"

Emily nodded. "Better than sitting around."

They left the garage together. Mark quietly lowered the shutter.

"Mark!" A voice hissed.

Mark spun round and drew his handgun in one movement. He frowned into the darkness. "Jill?"

Jill stepped out of the shadows, carrying her MP5 in both hands. "Where are you going?"

"We were…" Mark began as he lowered his gun.

"Going to skulk around?" Jill guessed.

Mark shrugged. "You got us."

"Mind if I join you?"

"Why so keen?"

"Those assholes won't let me talk to Gabby. I don't even know where she is." Jill explained.

"They might have a reason for not letting you," Emily said. "Risk of infection perhaps or maybe…"

"Shut up," Jill growled. "Gabby is my friend. Now, nice or not, I'm not leaving her alone with these people, and something about them stinks, and it's not brahmin shit."

"One condition," Mark held up a finger. "Lay off Emily. You know that she did the right thing."

Jill sighed, frustrated. "Fine, let's just get going."

* * *

Jin had no stomach for eating tonight. He was worried about Gabby, because she was injured, and Emily, because she was having a hard time.

In her shoes, he might have panicked. Come to think of it, he knew very little about medicine. They pretty much relied on Emily for all of their medical maladies. It was a miracle that they didn't drive her crazy.

"Jin?"

He looked up. "Lily? You okay?"

"Not really, no." Lily shook her head.

"Gabby?"

"Emily," Lily answered. "Jill wasn't exactly happy with her. Poor girl, she saved Gabby's life, but she's getting grief for it."

"She'll come around, she always does." Jin assured her. "Trust me. Emily's a lot tougher than she looks."

"Can we talk?" Lily glanced at the house. "Away from walls with ears?"

"Of course," Jin gestured at the motel.

They walked over to the building. The only light came from a flickering bulb attached to the wall, which was being swarmed by moths.

"What's on your mind?" Jin asked.

Lily hesitated. "A lot of this doesn't add up." She began. "Mostly what I've been hearing about the slavers around here, the Baggers, they have the numbers and firepower to take this place, so why don't they?"

Jin thought about it for a few seconds. And when he did, he could have hit himself for not seeing the problem.

The Langins appeared to be friendly, they welcoming travellers with open arms and offered them food and shelter. But was it real? They didn't seem to have the resources to do that, there was hardly any grass to feed the brahmin with.

"Lily," Jin glanced around. "Are you saying that this is a trap?"

She frowned slightly and then nodded slowly.

"Okay," Jin activated his power-fist. "I agree."

"Just like that?"

"It makes sense." He stated. "Get some guns, I'll talk to Mark."

Lily turned and then spun round again. "Jin?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for listening."

"Thanks for telling me." He nodded. "Go, I'll warn the others."

Lily hurried off and entered the garage through a side door. Jin was about to run to the house, when he heard something.

He tensed, raising his fists.

Nothing moved.

He realised that he was in trouble before they came for him. "Lil…"

Something collided with the back of his head.

* * *

"This is the only place we haven't been inside." Jill whispered as they crept along the side of the metal shed.

"I've got a really bad feeling about this." Emily muttered.

"Wait here." Mark told them. He moved to the door and slowly eased the handle down.

The door crashed open as somebody kicked it open from the inside.

Mark fell back, his arm was in agony and his gun was knocked from his grasp before he could recover.

His attacker turned him around and wrapped an arm around his throat. Something cold and sharp touched the side of his head.

"Late night stroll, buddy?" Mark recognised Mike's voice.

Emily and Jill ran around the corner and aimed, but Mark was in the way, Mike was using Mark as a human shield.

"No sudden moves," Mike warned. "Drop the guns, or I'll saw Mark's scalp off, and you can use his skull as a cup for deathclaw eggs."

Mark was struggling to breathe. It took a great effort to mouth something at Emily.

Emily didn't drop her rifle. "Put down the saw."

"Why?" Mike demanded, holding the saw against Mark's head.

"I'll shoot you."

"Do you want me to saw Mark's head off, girl?" Mike goaded. "Fed up of your marriage?"

Emily fired.

Mark had managed to mouth "VATS" at her, and she had targeted Mike's saw.

Mike's saw flew from his grasp, smoking and warped.

Mark took advantage of the surprise and jerked his head back, smashing Mike's nose and making him instinctively let go.

Mike staggered away and began to run. Mark was too fast for him though. He grabbed him, spun him round and punched him. Mark was not Jin's equal when it came to unarmed combat, but he had been trained in close quarters and his punch was aimed well enough to knock Mike out in one blow. Mike slumped to the ground and lay still.

"Now we're in trouble." Mark wheezed as he rubbed his throat. "They might have heard that."

"Lasers are quieter than bullets." Jill stated.

"Jill…" Emily was staring into the shed.

Jill peered inside. She froze in shock.

"Gabby?" She dropped her gun and hurried inside. "Gabby!"

Mark looked inside. It was a macabre sight.

He heard Emily throw up and couldn't blame her. If he thought that cannibalism was disgusting, Emily found it frightening.

There were mutilated human carcasses hanging from meat hooks. Blood was everywhere, fresh blood was running down to a small channel that was meant to contain and collect it.

And on the metal table in front of them was Gabby.

Emily was shaking, recalling what she had seen in Vault 177's last days.

"Jill…"

The word was little more than a hoarse wheeze. Gabby was still alive. Judging by the empty syringes on the floor, Gabby had been pumped full of painkillers.

"Gabby?" Jill moved to her side. "I'm here."

"Jill… really sorry… that I…"

"It's okay, Gabby," Jill assured her tearfully. "Is there anything…"

"No… I won't… walk away this time." Gabby rasped. "Just… end it… make it fast… please."

Jill felt sick as she reached for a knife. The blade was sharp enough for the job.

"Jill," Gabby paused. "No… you know what I want to say."

"Oh, Gabby." Jill whispered. "Nothing will be the same without you."

"You'll… survive. Promise me… that you'll survive, for me."

"I promise." Jill lifted the knife. "I'm sorry, Gabby. Goodbye." Before she could reconsider, she brought the knife down and stabbed it into Gabby's heart.

Gabby jolted, the painkillers stopped the pain. But she knew what had happened.

She looked up at Jill, relief in her eyes as the life fled from them.

Emily closed her eyes and backed away, feeling sick, angry and mortified. "They're monsters." She breathed. "The Langins are monsters."

"We can't leave her like this." Jill murmured, looking down mournfully at Gabby. "Not like this. She deserved so much more."

"We'll come back later." Mark told her. "We've got to deal with the Langins first." He looked down at the unconscious Mike. "Lock him up in the shed. Pretend that everything is fine until we have the Langins at gunpoint." Mark noticed that Jill was going to have difficulty with that; she was quivering with a mixture of rage and sorrow. "Jill, find Ghost. Tell him."

Jill nodded numbly and ran off in search of Ghost.

Mark had Emily to back him up. But they would have to act until they had help. They needed the remaining Langins in one place, preferably away from their guns.

Before they tried anything, they dragged Mike into the shed and locked him inside.

Mark was still coming up with half of a plan when they entered the house. It was hard to believe that this seemingly friendly, albeit unusual, family were so depraved.

Maybe that was how they had survived, by lulling travellers into a false sense of security, and then caging them in a shed, perhaps to eat them.

"Hey there," Lisa saw them walking down the hallway and gave them a false smile. "Have you seen Mike?"

"No," Mark lied. "When's dinner ready?"

"In a few moments." Lisa answered. "Most of your friends are in there." She gestured at the dining room.

Mark had a fleeting, nightmarish vision of them being served for dinner.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Mark lied.

"We're just a little tired." Emily added.

They moved past her, Emily kept a wary eye on her, and walked into the dining room.

Ghost, Jin and Lily were not there, but Mara, Fred, Walter and Li were.

Mara noticed that something was amiss almost immediately. "Is something wrong?"

Mark sat down next to her, glanced at the others and then whispered without looking at her: "Are you armed?"

Mara subtly showed him her holstered 44 Magnum.

"Be ready." Mark whispered. "You'll know when to act."

Mara nodded. "The others aren't carrying."

"Jill's gone to find Ghost."

"What are you two whispering about?" Walter asked. "Scheming something?"

"Not exactly." Emily muttered.

"You okay, girl?" Daniel asked.

"It's just a little heartburn." Emily told him. "And I'm out of tablets."

Mark glanced at the door as he heard footsteps. He was relieved to see Ghost and Jill in the doorway. But there was sign no of Jin and Lily.

Ghost nodded at him.

"I hope you'll be able to eat, Emily." Lisa was saying. "It would be a shame for you to miss out."

"I don't think so." Mark stood up. Emily and Mara also stood up.

"What?" Daniel frowned.

"No sudden moves." Ghost warned, pulling out his pistol and aiming it at Daniel.

"You've got a lot to answer for." Jill growled, aiming her sidearm at Lisa.

Mark, Emily and Mara drew their handguns and took aim.

"What is this?" Lisa hissed. "Are you robbing us?"

"What are you doing?" Walter demanded. "These people are trying to help us."

"Like hell they are!" Jill spat. "If they wanted to help, they wouldn't have cut up my friend for food."

"It didn't have to be this way." Daniel muttered. "We did what we had to, to survive."

"You call this survival?" Emily shouted. "This is wrong!"

"You wouldn't understand," Daniel sneered. "You're just a little slut who's too scared of everything to understand survival. This isn't a Vault. You have to fight to live out here."

"And you think we don't fight to survive?" Mara growled. "This is monstrous."

"You don't understand," Lisa tried to protest. "We can't waste resources, and Gabby would have died sooner or later."

"Don't say her name! Don't you fucking dare!" Jill snarled. "You gave us no choice. _You _killed her."

"You have to keep them alive, people are worthless when they're dead. They rot."

"What have you done with Jin and Lily?" Mark demanded. "Answer me! Or I'll show you how far I'll go for my friends' survival."

"Where is Mike?" Daniel glared at Mark.

"Locked in the shed." Mark stated. "Now tell me where Jin and Lily are."

Daniel shrugged. "We don't eat people, you know."

"Don't dance around the question." Emily was aiming at Daniel's chest. "Answer."

"Haven't you figured it out yet, you whore?"

"Don't push your luck." Mark snarled. He aimed his pistol at Daniel's crotch. "Or I'll make you regret it."

"You wouldn't understand, Mark." Daniel growled. "At least I can count on Lisa remaining faithful to me, family blood never betrays itself."

"Well, you don't know Emily like I do." Mark murmured. "She's no monster."

"You said that the Baggers left you alone." Emily murmured. She often did that when coming to a conclusion. "But they came here for something." She frowned. "They came here for a tribute. You've cut a deal with them. Food and slaves. You give them brahmin meat and people."

"The land out here ain't exactly prosperous." Daniel muttered. "We have to feed the brahmin something, and the Baggers need the meat."

"How ironic. And this explains a lot, including Tuggy." Ghost growled. "The Langins have been inbreeding. Did you sell everybody else around here, or did you feed them to your livestock?"

"This is so messed up!" Jill hissed. "You sick bastards are going to pay for this!"

"So," Daniel said slowly. "Now that you lot have spilled the beans, so to speak, what happens now?"

"Wasteland justice." Jill spat venomously.

"Hold on," Mara glanced around. "Where is Tuggy?"

Ghost heard his heavy footsteps before he saw him. He didn't hear him swing a meaty fist though.

Ghost was slammed into the wall, unconscious before he hit the floor. Jill backed away, firing at Tuggy, who just shrugged off the bullets.

Daniel took advantage of the chaos and dropped something on the floor.

Mark recognised it immediately. "Cover your eyes!" He yelled.

His warning came too late. The stun grenade exploded into blinding light and sound.

As the whining sound faded, Mark heard Mara's Magnum boom next to him and something hot seared across his left shoulder.

Mara and Lisa were grappling, and Mara's gun had gone off. Mara was much stronger than Lisa though. She gripped Lisa's hands and squeezed until bones cracked.

Lisa yelped and let go of the gun. Mara took no chances and shot her without hesitation.

"Where's Daniel?" Emily shouted.

Mark hurried into the hallway, almost tripping over Tuggy's arm.

Tuggy was dead, riddled with at least thirty bullets.

Jill was leaning against the wall next to the front door, holding her right arm and grimacing. Her MP5 was on the floor, smoke was rising from the barrel and bullet casings were all over the floor.

"I'm fine." Jill hissed between her teeth. "Just bruised."

"Ghost?" Mark knelt down next to the Ghoul. "Ghost?"

Ghost groaned. "That mutant has a hell of a left hook." Mark helped him back onto his feet. "What did I miss?"

"Later," Mark told him. "Get to the garage, find some guns and find Jin and Lily."

"On it, Boss." Ghost stumbled over Tuggy's corpse, looking dizzy. "Not seeing double yet."

Mark picked up his carbine and set out to find Daniel. He wasn't going to let him get away, not now, not unpunished.

* * *

Emily was searching the fields when she spotted him.

Mike must have been carrying a spare key for the shed. Now he was running alongside the barbed wire fence.

Emily ran after him, sprinting as fast as she could whilst carrying her laser rifle.

Mike noticed her out of the corner of his eye. He turned around.

Emily didn't spot the crossbow until it was too late.

The bolt sliced her left arm. She cried out and nearly dropped her rifle.

That was enough for Mike, who ran up to her before she could lift her rifle and hit her with his crossbow.

Emily fell onto her back. Her rifle fell from her hand and Mike was on top of her before she could reach it.

Mike grabbed her handgun and threw it aside. He also took her knife, but he didn't throw that away. "I'm going to enjoy gutting you, girl." He snarled. "And when you're dead, I'll make a meal out of you."

He stabbed downwards.

Emily grabbed his hands, straining to stop the knife reaching her heart. She knew that he would overpower her. She could only buy time to act.

She used her left hand to slow the knife's descent. With her right, she found a weapon.

She lashed out, stabbing her scalpel into Mike's hand. Mike hissed, cursed and stopped pushing.

Emily used the distraction to knock the knife out of his hands and kicked him off her.

She still had the scalpel in her hand. She pounced on Mike and, without thinking, stabbed the scalpel into his neck.

Mike gurgled and tried to feebly push her away. Emily felt his strength ebb away as his died.

She stepped away, leaving the scalpel behind. Numbly, she picked up her weapons and walked away.

* * *

Daniel had reached the garage by the time by the time Mark caught up with him.

"Daniel!" Mark fired a single shot, hitting the ground just behind Daniel's feet.

Daniel stopped and whipped round, holding a handgun.

"Drop it!" Mark barked.

"I'd do as he says." Mark didn't turn his head. He recognised Jill's voice anyway. She was aiming her pistol at Daniel.

Daniel shook his head and dropped his pistol. "So, what now?"

"It's over, Daniel." Mark stated. "Now tell us where Jin and Lily are."

"I don't know." Daniel shrugged.

"Don't mess us about!" Jill hissed. "Make yourself useful before we kill you."

"I really don't know."

Mark slung his carbine across his back and advanced on Daniel. Daniel held up his hands, but that didn't stop Mark from punching him in the face, knocking him into the garage wall and rattling a few teeth loose.

Daniel swore and spat blood onto the wall. "Like I said, I don't know where they are."

"Then tell me what you do know!" Mark grabbed him by the throat and slammed him up against the wall.

"Okay!" Daniel spluttered. "Okay! The Baggers must have taken them. They must have come in early. We were supposed to drug you with the meal, hand you over as slaves."

"Son of a bitch!" Jill hissed.

"Where can we find them?" Mark growled.

"You won't need to." Daniel grinned. "They're coming tonight, for all of you."

Mark dropped him and turned away. As he started to walk, Daniel began to laugh.

"Is that it?" He stood up slowly, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "Is that all you've got?"

"Was it worth it, Daniel?" Mark asked. "Your family is gone."

Daniel didn't respond at first. "That's the way the world is."

"Only because of people like you."

"You think that you're tough, Mark. But you're weak. You have to do whatever it takes."

Mark sighed. "I know what it takes, Daniel." He turned around, raised his pistol, and fired a single bullet into Daniel's head.

Daniel slumped against the wall and slid down it, leaving a trail of red on its surface.

Mark turned away again. He didn't feel good about what had happened, but he couldn't have allowed Daniel to live.

"Mark?" Jill was examining him with concern.

"I'm fine." Mark holstered his pistol. "We have company on the way. We need to be ready for them."

"What about Jin and Lily?"

"We'll find them." Mark vowed. "We _will _find them."


	9. Payback

_**Sorry about the long delay, I've been on a break and rethinks were needed. I at least intend to finish my **_**Fallout Misfits **_**stories. Thanks for bearing with me.**_

* * *

Jin felt an intense wave of pain surge through his head as he woke up. It was almost enough to make his vision blur.

He groaned and rubbed his forehead, even though it did little to dull the pain. He could feel the bruise throbbing on the back of his head and guessed that he was lucky to have an intact skull.

"You're alive."

Jin looked up and saw who had spoken. The man sitting against the wall was bony from malnourishment, his cheeks and eyes were sunken and his veins stuck out. He only had the rags on his back.

Jin still had his clothes, but his armour and weapons had been taken. He was also missing his bandana. That felt like a personal insult for some reason.

"Mostly." Jin muttered.

His surroundings were bare. They seemed to be in some sort of large cell or storage area, empty except for the two of them. The floor sloped down slightly towards a drain in the middle of the room. Judging from the holes in the walls, this room might have been used for showers. Perhaps this place had been some sort of gym or leisure centre.

But now the drain was where the waste from the prisoners went. This room was a jail cell.

"They threw you in here two hours ago." The prisoner told him. "I thought you were dead at first, only you were still breathing."

"I didn't see any lights." Jin said. "Where are we?"

"The Bagger's camp. An old gym, I think."

Jin stood up slowly, trying not to bring on another wave of pain. Gradually, the feeling faded, but he had a feeling that he was concussed.

"Did they bring anybody else? A woman?"

"No, just you."

Hopefully Lily had escaped. She had gone to find weapons. It was possible that she had hidden in the garage with weapons to fight back with. That gave him some small comfort. He was also certain that his other friends would be fine, somehow.

Even though it was locked, Jin tried the door. He wasn't trying to open it, he wanted to see how strong and well locked it was.

The original door had been removed and replaced with a heavy steel door, which was barred and firmly locked. Even if he had anything to pick the lock with the bar on the other side would keep it shut.

He wasn't leaving through the door then, not unless he could determine when a guard would turn up and somehow overpower him. He walked around the room, ignoring the prisoner watching him. Slowly, Jin ran his hands over the walls, trying to find some sort of weakness.

Without his power-fist, Jin would struggle to smash a hole in the wall, weakened or not, but it was worth a try.

But there were no weaknesses. He was trapped.

"Don't think that I haven't tried." The prisoner said.

"How long?" Jin asked.

"I lost count." The prisoner sighed. "Maybe three or four years. They couldn't sell me. They only keep me around for cleaning stuff."

"I'm not planning on sticking around."

"Yeah? And how are you going to get out of here?"

Jin sat down again. "If I don't think of something, I'm sure that some friends of mine will."

Even if Jin had been ready for one guard entering, he wasn't ready for two men who looked like they were related to Super Mutants.

They dragged him from the cell and into a smaller, darker room. Before he could think of attacking, they tied him to the metal chair bolted to the floor.

"You'd better tell me who you work for," one of them, a skinhead cracked his knuckles. "Or I'll knock out your teeth and make them into a necklace."

"Is that the latest fashion?" Jin remarked. "Or is it a present?"

The man hit him. "Tell me who you work for."

"I'm working for your stylist. He's not happy with what you've done to your hair."

"Very funny." The man growled. "Who are you really working for?"

"Uncle Sam." Jin smirked. "I'm secretly an Enclave agent."

The man hit him again, harder this time. "Better start taking this seriously, buddy." He growled. "Who are you with?"

"Your dog."

Another punch. "Tell me what you know!"

"Okay," Jin shrugged, making the handcuffs clink. "Your Uncle Bobby is very disappointed in you."

The man hit him again. "You think that you're a comedian?"

"No, I'm handcuffed to a chair in a dark room with two Super Mutant lookalikes for company." Jin said. "Anything else?"

"We're not getting anything out of this dickhead." The second man said. "Maybe he knows nothing."

The first man lowered his face towards Jin and growled at him. "You lie, you die."

After that little threat, they untied Jin and threw him back into the improvised prison cell.

Jin wiped his bleeding nose and shrugged at Bob. "One of them doesn't know how to throw a proper punch. So, is that the red carpet treatment? Because I'd hate to see the regular welcoming ceremony."

* * *

As soon as Mara lifted the shutters a gunshot made her duck down.

"Hands up!" Mara recognised Lily's voice. "Or I'll shoot you!"

"Lily, it's me. It's Mara."

Lily peeked over the crate she had crouched behind. She slowly stood up and lowered her AUG. "I'm really glad to see you."

Mara noticed a body on the floor, shot twice in the chest. It was a Bagger. He had obviously tried to capture Lily, only to end up being shot by her.

"Where's Jin?" Lily asked.

"We haven't seen him." Ghost answered as he walked into the garage.

"I heard gunfire, but I…" Lily grimaced and stumbled. "I'm hurt."

Mara looked down and saw a hastily tied cloth around Lily's leg. Then she noticed a bullet casing on the floor next to the dead Bagger.

"He fired as he fell." Lily explained, somehow managing to suppress the pain. "Glancing hit, but it hurts to walk."

"Lucky." Ghost commented. "Any closer and the bullet might have hit something important." He turned. "Fred, go and find Emily."

Fred, who had been loitering next to the shutters, nodded and ran off into the night.

Lily slowly eased herself down and sat against the crate, laying her AUG on the floor. "The Langins tried to screw us over, didn't they?"

"Yeah." Mara confirmed. "They were going to sell us to slavers. Gabby is dead."

Lily closed her eyes and clenched her fist. Slowly, she let whatever feelings she was holding in leave through a long breath. She didn't have the strength, due to her wound, to get violently angry. It just wasn't her way anyway.

"Poor Gabby." She murmured. "And Jill. Gabby is… was her closest friend, almost like a sister to her."

Ghost turned and briefly aimed at something until he saw that it was Fred returning with Emily. She knelt down next to Lily and rummaged around in her medical kit.

"How bad?" Lily asked.

"This will hurt." Emily warned Lily. She cautiously eased the improvised bandage away from Lily's wound.

Lily gritted her teeth as it came away. The bullet had missed anything vital, leaving just a deep cut. No bone was showing, just ragged skin and torn flesh. Unfortunately, it had torn through parts of the muscle.

"It's not fatal, but walking will be difficult for a time." Emily said as she prepared a stimpak. She injected it into lily's leg before applying a clean bandage. "Give it a couple of days to heal, don't do any running or anything very strenuous. If it doesn't improve, let me know."

"Yes, doctor." Lily muttered.

Ghost took aim and once again lowered his rifle as more people arrived. This time it was Mark, followed by Jill.

"Any sign of Jin?" Mark asked.

"No." Fred shook his head.

"The Baggers must have taken him then." Mark surmised. "Daniel wasn't lying."

"Where is Daniel now?" Mara could guess, but felt the need to ask anyway.

"Dead." Mark stated. "He said that Baggers would be coming. More of them."

"Luck's not on our side tonight." Walter commented.

"Surprise is." Ghost realised. "If the Langins have drugged or exposed people for the Baggers, they won't be expecting their next targets, us, to be prepared for them."

"But we're down by two." Walter pointed out. "Jin's vanished and Lily can't fight."

Lily scowled up at Walter. "Like hell I can't fight."

"It might be better if you stay here and protect the vehicles." Mark told her, trying to be diplomatic. Lily would be a liability in battle with a wounded leg, there was no way around that, but somebody had to protect the vehicles they would need to escape if the battle went poorly.

Lily's scowl remained, but softened slightly. "Fine."

"You know where I'll be." Ghost pointed up at the ceiling. He was going to snipe from the top of the motel.

Looking outside, Mark had another idea. The house would be a bad choice for defence, but it was where the Baggers would probably go first, to find their drugged victims and to pay the Langins.

Mark began to think up a plan, recalling the layout of the place and where he should put people. He would be playing a tricky hand, taking a significant gamble.

"We don't have much time." Mark told them. "Do we have any C-four?"

"A few of both." Jill nodded. "You have a plan?"

"Yes. And here's what we're going to do…"

* * *

An hour and six minutes later, the Baggers arrived at Langins' Stop. There were thirty of them; they always travelled in large groups just in case raiders or predators attacked them.

Sometimes they sent one or two people ahead to snatch people out in the open, who might escape the Langins' trap. They had caught one man, but one of their scouts had not returned.

Accidents happened. But if the Langins were trying to betray them they'd learn not to break deals the hard way.

From the rooftop of the motel, Ghost could see them arriving. They all wore armour of similar quality, mostly patchwork leather and cloth, but their weapons were more varied. Through his scope, Ghost had caught sight of pistols, crude melee weapons, combat knives, SMGs, assault rifles and at least one machinegun and one grenade launcher. A whole motely of weapons, that was good and bad.

Ghost watched five of them walk into the house as if they owned it. He'd hoped for more, but five was enough.

Before they saw the bullet holes, bodies and signs of a fight, Ghost flicked the safety-cap off the detonator and pressed the button.

They had all agreed that defending the house was a bad option. It was wooden, small and flimsy. The wooden walls would have been useless for cover against bullets and energy weapons, a single grenade could have blown a wall apart.

Instead, they had placed C4 inside the house.

The house was blasted into fragments by the C4. The five men inside were gone in an instant.

The Baggers reacted. Some of them seemed to know what to do. They dropped to the ground and took cover wherever they could. Others stood and started to shout and frantically look around. One or two of them started to fire at what they saw as threats, including the trees and the motel.

Ghost played his next part as well as he always did. He didn't pick off the ones who were shooting, the noise gave him cover. Instead he shot the ones who weren't being observed by their allies. Nobody noticed as three Baggers collapsed silently into the grass.

Finally, as a fourth fell, one of them noticed. But they still had no idea where the shooting was coming from until one of them figured out that their targets were probably hiding in the motel.

One Bagger knelt down and lifted a machinegun, firing wildly at the motel as his fellows advanced on the building.

Idiot. Perhaps there was some logic. The man with the machinegun was providing covering fire, but he wasn't hitting anything because he wasn't even aiming or bothering to look for targets.

Ghost shot him in the head. The Baggers only had a brief moment to notice, and it was drowned out by gunfire coming from the motel.

The house had been a poor option for defence, but the motel was not. Bullets were being fired through the open windows. A grenade soared out from one of them and lifted three Baggers into the air, minus several limbs.

Now they were starting to retreat. Mark had his eye on the ball and played the last card.

The garage shutters opened and one of the Humvees roared out. Mara was driving, Lily had taken the guns. They played their part perfectly, driving the remaining Baggers apart and opening fire on the larger group.

Ghost selected two men running the other way. He shot them both in the legs, slowing them to a crawl.

Once again, the people chosen for the next part reacted quickly. Emily and Fred ran out and stood over the two wounded men, stopping them completely.

They were the only two Baggers in the area alive now, and they needed to stay that way for the moment.

Ghost calmly reloaded his rifle, flicked the safety on and walked back down to the garage.

By the time he reached the garage, the two Baggers were already inside at gunpoint. To keep them from bleeding out, Emily had bandaged their legs but not with her best dressings.

"I'll keep it simple." Mark was telling them. "All I want to know is where your base or camp or whatever is. That's it."

The two slavers looked like they were out of their depths. They'd shot at the odd raider, but they'd never been ambushed by their targets before.

"Why should we?" The bigger of the two grunted.

Mark drew his sidearm with slow and deliberate care and laid it on the bonnet of _Bad Attitude_. He didn't say anything.

"So? If you shoot us, you won't get anything." The shorter man was not as confident as he tried to sound.

Mark shrugged. "That's fair enough. So I won't leave it up to me." He nodded at Emily. "I'll leave it up to chance."

Ghost almost smiled. He knew that Mark wasn't going to do that, he'd obviously thought about this.

"Mara, can I borrow your sidearm?"

Mara handed over her Magnum. Mark emptied five of the chambers, leaving only one loaded, and spun the cylinder. Both Baggers saw this shortly before Emily blindfolded them.

"Some people call this Russian Roulette." Mark explained. "One bullet is left in this gun. If you don't tell me what I want to know, I'll spin the cylinder, put it against your skull and pull the trigger. There's a chance that the chamber might be empty. If not…" He didn't need to explain that part. "Who wants to go first?"

Neither man responded for a moment.

"Fuck you." The bigger one grated.

"Well volunteered." Mark spun the cylinder and put the gun against the man's head. The Bagger jolted as the cold metal rested against his temple.

Mark squeezed the trigger.

_Click._

The man jumped as if given an electric shock all the same.

"Lucky." Mark remarked. "Does anybody want to place a bet?"

"Next one is loaded." Mara said. "Five caps."

"Done." Mark spun the cylinder and placed the gun against the second man's head.

He began to squeeze the trigger.

"No! Oh God! No!" The man began to wail hysterically. "Please don't kill me!"

"Tell us where your base is."

"It's... it's an old gym. Sports-Go." The man shivered. "Two miles from here. North-east.

"What if he's lying?" Jill asked.

"Good point." Mark squeezed the trigger.

The Bagger screamed even though the gun clicked empty once again. "It's true! It's true!"

"I think he's scared shitless of us now." Ghost stated. "He's telling the truth."

"And you owe me five caps, Mara." Mark said.

"Do I, Mark?" Mara raised an eyebrow.

Mark smiled at her. "No. Emily, remove their blindfolds." As Emily removed the cloths from their eyes, Mark reloaded the revolver, putting a bullet in all six chambers.

"What the fuck…" The bigger Bagger was obviously able to count.

"Do you have any idea how much Magnum rounds cost?" Mark asked. "And how much of a mess I'd make at this range? Besides, killing you would just waste time and ammo." He handed the revolver back to Mara. "If you want to live, go south."

"South?"

"Because we're going to your base." Mark picked up his pistol and leaned towards the Bagger, holding his gun very close to the man's face. "You took a friend of ours. And we want him back."

"And if we don't?"

"I won't play Russian Roulette with this gun."

That seemed to be all the encouragement they needed. As soon as they were untied, still at gunpoint, they ran south as if they really were being shot at.

"Next move, Boss?" Ghost inquired.

"You know where we're going." Mark holstered his pistol. "Load up, grab the guns they had, we're going to get Jin back."

Lily limped into _Bad Attitude_ and sat on one of the backseats. "He's going to owe me a drink."

"What about Gabby?" Jill asked quietly.

Nobody spoke for a moment.

"We'll have to be quick, Jill." Mark told her. "Jin needs our help."

"That'll have to do." Jill sighed. "But she never deserved any of this."

* * *

Jin was listening for the sound of footsteps outside. He still planned to jump a guard. Surely they had to feed them at some point.

It looked like the other prisoner needed food more than he did though.

"You're not so eager to escape now." The prisoner said.

"I'm thinking." Jin muttered. "I didn't catch your name."

"Bob."

"Bob?"

"That's what they call me. I forgot my name after a while."

Jin felt a little sorry for the man, but sympathy wasn't going to help him escape. "I'm Jin. And I still intend to get out of here."

"Is somebody waiting for you?"

"Some people, yes, and somebody special" Jin shrugged. "When do they feed us?"

"They don't exactly feed prisoners, not if they cheap or useless like me." Bob surveyed Jin, taking in the muscles and the broad frame of the man. "They'll probably keep you fed, but under heavy guard, once they've evaluated you."

"Evaluated?"

"They determine what you'll be good for, what they'll sell you for. They might sell you as a bodyguard or a builder. They tend to sell women as prostitutes, or keep them."

Slavers were all the same wherever people went. They were scum.

Jin sighed as he realised that no guards were coming anytime soon. "Well, my friends will have noticed my absence by now." He said. "They'll find me."

Bob didn't reply. He seemed to have lost all hope.

Jin had no intention of ending up like him.

* * *

"Now what?" Lily was impatient to get going. She had not protested about quickly burying Gabby's body, but they could tell that she wanted to rescue Jin sooner rather than later.

"We wait." Mark told her. "Wait until Ghost and the others return."

They had stopped in a narrow, dry riverbed half-a-mile away from the Sports-Go gym. Ghost, Walter and Mara had gone ahead on foot to survey the gym.

Lily's leg kept her from going, or doing anything strenuous. She didn't like that one bit.

Jill was flicking the lid on and off her lighter again. It wasn't nerves this time, she was clearly downcast. She had suppressed her sorrow, but it was clear that Gabby's death still hurt.

Mark understood. He knew that it was pain that would fade slowly, if it faded at all.

Emily lifted her laser rifle, she had heard something.

Ghost, Mara and Walter pushed through a dead hedge and walked into the riverbed.

"Well?" Lily demanded.

"It's not good." Ghost reported. "No high ground nearby for sniping. They've got searchlights, sentries, a couple of snipers, two machineguns and we've spotted at least one protectron."

"We're fucked." Walter added unhelpfully.

"We're not leaving Jin in there." Emily frowned at Walter, as if challenging him.

"Agreed." Lily nodded.

"So we can't do a stealthy approach?" Mark asked.

"For once, it probably wouldn't work." Ghost answered.

"Then we go in guns blazing." Mark shrugged. "We've got the Humvees and plenty of firepower."

"It worked in Area Forty." Ghost said.

"This might help." Jill lifted up a military grenade launcher, with a magazine similar to a revolver's cylinder containing no less than six 40mm HE grenades. One of the Baggers at Langins' Stop had been carrying it, but had never got the chance to fire it. They had gathered up quite a few weapons, including an M249 SAW and a plasma rifle.

"This'll be better for drive-by shooting than your service rifle." Mara told Li, handing her the SAW.

"I could get used to this." Li grinned. "Thanks."

"You'll be riding shotgun with Lily and I." Ghost told her. "It's your turn to fight on foot, Mark."

"Fair enough." Mark shrugged.

"Who's driving the second Humvee?" Emily asked.

"You are."

"Oh."

* * *

Jin had paced around the cell again, in the hopes of finding something he had missed, but there was nothing. He slumped against the wall and resigned himself to waiting.

"They're not coming." Bob stated.

"They'll be here." Jin insisted. "They tend to take a stealthy approach at first."

On cue, he heard a distant explosion, muffled by the walls, and screams.

"But they seem to be a bit pissed off." Jin shrugged.

Bob stared at him as if he had grown a second head, which wasn't that rare anymore. "You weren't kidding."

"Maybe they'll save some action for me."

* * *

Both Humvees charged through the gates, which weren't even locked. The Baggers had started firing at them, but the two Humvees had been too fast for their gunners and snipers.

"Change _up_!" Walter shouted at Emily. "We want to go _faster_ not slower!"

Emily wrenched the gear stick in the other direction, ignored the grinding noise the engine made, and put the pedal to the metal.

"Why the hell are these things manual?" Fred wondered aloud.

"Who knows? Maybe they were thought up by some British guy." Jill opened her door's window and poked the barrel of her grenade launcher out. "Walter, start shooting!"

Ahead of them, Ghost and Li were firing. For a trained soldier who had been issued with a semi-automatic rifle, Li was eagerly unleashing the fully automatic fire of her SAW. Ghost also seemed to have mastered the crude technique of spraying lead from the twelve barrels of the dual-linked miniguns.

Jill fired a grenade and a caretaker's shed exploded, killing the two Baggers inside.

The gym was a single, two-storey building, with two long huts outside, dorms used as barracks, and a couple of small buildings that stored tools and generators. Emily wrenched _Moody Bitch _towards the barracks, driving along the left side of the compound. Walter turned the miniguns on the wooden buildings. If the bullets didn't shred them and anybody inside, Jill's grenades gutted the buildings completely and eviscerated any unlucky Baggers within.

Two men ran in front of them and opened fire. The protective glass protected the occupants of the Humvee. Walter was more exposed, but the Baggers were trying to stop the Humvee by killing the driver. If Emily had any qualms about running two people down, she didn't let them get in the way. She ran them both over, wincing at the sound of bones cracking.

"The barracks are gone." Emily radioed, driving the Humvee towards the gym.

Ghost brought _Bad Attitude _to a halt outside the gym's main doors. "This is your stop."

Mark jumped out, followed by Mara and Fred. They sprinted inside as the two Humvees left to cause more havoc.

Emily's stalled. Emily swore, started the Humvee again and drove off, ignoring Walter's complaints.

* * *

There were only two guards outside the room marked as a prison cell.

Mark gunned them both down as he rounded the corner. Fred yanked the keys from the belt of one of them and unlocked the door, removing the heavy bar before opening it.

Jin was sitting against the wall facing them, hands behind his head and looking relaxed.

"Nice of you to turn up." Jin remarked. "Better late than never."

"We had some uninvited guests at the Stop." Mark told him. He picked up a fallen shotgun and tossed it to Jin. "Ready for payback?"

Jin stood up. "If you get my gear back, I'll be more than ready."

"Who's that?" Mara aimed her shotgun at a bony, emaciated man in rags who was cowering in the corner.

"He's a prisoner, name's Bob." Jin explained. "We might as well get the poor guy out of here too."

Fred handed Bob a guard's pistol. Bob handled it nervously, as if he was holding dynamite.

Mara took the lead, following the scrawled signs on the walls towards the armoury.

"I have to ask," Jin tapped Mark on the shoulder. "Where's Lily?"

"She's _Bad Attitude's _gunner for the moment." Mark told him. "Her leg is injured."

"Bad?"

"Not too bad."

"Good."

There was one guard waiting for them at the armoury, jumpy about the gunfire and explosions outside, who was unprepared to see Mara round the corner. She killed him before he could even aim.

Once again, Fred took the keys and opened the door.

"We've hit the damn jackpot again." Mara raised both eyebrows. She stepped inside and peered into a crate of weapons. "Uzis, MP-fives," she looked in another. "Mossbergs, R-ninety-ones," she opened the next one and stared. "Mini-nuke launcher."

Jin lifted his armour and gear out of an open crate. He quickly strapped his armour back on and equipped his power-fist. "I don't need this anymore." He put the shotgun down. "Now I'm ready for payback."

* * *

The Baggers only had one protectron, an old unit that had been used to protect the gym before the war.

Emily accidentally crashed into it whilst fumbling around with the gear-stick. Luckily, all she managed to do was break a washer-bottle and a windscreen wiper.

"Your Humvee's had a piss." Jin remarked when he saw the damage. "What have I missed?"

He had helped Mark's group to clear the gym, but compared to the outside it looked like he had missed a small war. Jill had obviously made use of her grenade launcher.

Li was reloading her SAW, looking impressed with the weapon. "Maybe SAW isn't just an acronym."

"All gone?" Mark inquired.

"Those who aren't dead ran off." Ghost reported. "We can bring up the trucks and get rid of the bodies tonight."

Lily clambered out of _Bad Attitude _and limped as quickly as she could towards Jin. Jin met her three quarters of the way and embraced her.

"You owe me a drink." Lily told Jin as they parted.

"I'll give you a date."

Lily grinned fondly at him. "It's great to have you back."

"You're going to have to tell me what I missed." Jin said. "Because it looks like I missed quite a lot."

* * *

_**Just for those who don't know what it means, SAW is the acronym for Squad Automatic Weapon.**_

**_IMPORTANT: I have said this before. If any of my stories are crap in any way, shape or form YOU MUST TELL ME. I'd prefer to know the truth rather than be a fool, because authors need honest reviews to get anywhere. Be honest, I won't be angry, I'll be grateful, just give an explanation._**

**_Ignore the comment from the so-called "fallout-gurl", after some checking I discovered that the real Falloutgurl, who runs a _Fallout_ devoted blog (well done for supporting a great franchise) didn't post that comment and hasn't read this story. _**

**_Nevertheless, the statement about honest reviews still stands. Thank you._**


	10. Drive-by-raiding

_**IMPORTANT: To any readers of this story, especially members of fanfiction, if you get a nasty trollish review from "fallout-gurl" then simply delete the review. These reviews have been inflicted on several fanfiction authors already, they are posted by a troll or trolls who are trying to rile people up against the real Falloutgurl, who actually seems to be a nice person and innocent **_**Fallout **_**fan with a blog.**_

* * *

Ghost insisted that they should remove and bury the bodies away from the gym, just in case any predators got curious. As a result, they were up for most of the night and tired out in the morning.

In no hurry to go anyway, they decided to stick around for a while.

Ghost and Jill brought the two trucks to load the extra weapons. They were gathering more guns than they really knew what to do with.

All of the fighting and disposal last night had left most of them bleary eyed and half-awake in the morning. Mara was still dozing, curled up in her sleeping bag. Emily was stumbling around in her vest and shorts, mumbling about finding her toothbrush.

Ghost was the only one who was really awake, he didn't sleep much anyway. He strode into the largest room where the majority of them had gathered, which contained the swimming pools.

"The trucks are loaded." He announced. "We have enough guns to fight a full-scale war now."

"Maybe they'll help Salvation." Li suggested. "How did I sleep in here? I can't help but smell the chlorine."

She was right, the piercing smell of chlorine wafted off the water.

Emily was still stumbling around, still half asleep, now waving a toothbrush around and looking for her Pip-Boy.

Mark reached into her sleeping bag and found her Pip-Boy. "Here."

Emily smiled at him, sort of collapsed next to him and almost fell asleep completely.

"It's odd that the water isn't radioactive." Lily was holding a Geiger counter over the water.

"Thinking of a swim?" Jin asked her.

Lily gestured at the bandage around her leg. "I'd like to, but it's not a good idea."

"How is it today?"

"A little better." Lily glanced at Mark and Emily and giggled.

Mark didn't say anything or react at all, because Emily had fallen asleep on him and was snuggled up against him, a sleepy smile on her face.

"She looks so cute like that." Lily said.

Mara yawned and sat up. She kept her weapons and armour close, but for once she hadn't slept in her armour. "Coffee?"

Jin pointed at a now lukewarm coffee next to Mara. "I thought the smell would wake you up."

"All I can smell is chlorine." Mara drank the coffee anyway.

Emily shifted and opened her eyes. "Not again. Sorry, Mark."

"It's alright." Mark told her. "Lily won't let you live this down though."

"Kind of funny, kind of cute." Lily said.

"We'd better get ready for a long drive, guys." Mara announced as she stood up. "It's still a long road to Salvation."

* * *

"They've fucked the Baggers up, totally fucked them up."

Wasp hardly needed the assessment to be spoken aloud. The gym had been shot up, some of the buildings had been blown open, and there were a lot of graves outside.

The Baggers and Heaven's Devils had not been allies, but they had traded and the Baggers had protected the route to Norville.

"So what are we gonna do?" One of the bikers asked. "Are we gonna kill them now?"

"Not yet." Wasp told him. "We'll play to our strengths and hit them on the road, before they reach Norville."

* * *

He knew that the Leatherbacks and their allies could hold the gym against them. From what they had gathered at Breaker's Den and Area Forty they had learned that Kelson and his group were adept at storming and capturing locations.

Given Kelson's history as an NCR Special Forces soldier, it made sense. His training and missions had obviously involved clearing buildings room-by-room, storming positions and holding them. His team also allowed him to pull off such tactics, along with stealth attacks.

"Load the guns. We move after they do."

"How soon are we going?" Emily asked.

"As good as a rest might be we still need to reach Salvation and get that gold back." Mark explained. "But not right now, in an hour or two." He lifted up a pair of Uzis and handed them to Emily, who found a place for them in the truck.

"I've never seen such a big collection of guns." Jill peered into one of the crates. "We've gone from supply carrying to gun running."

Jin finished the repairs on _Bad Attitude _and wiped his hands on a rag. He decided to get some rest, or maybe some food. He'd reflect on this decision happily later.

He wandered around the gym, looking for anything they might have missed, and ended up bumping into Lily near the staff quarters, which she had been searching.

"Fancy meeting you here," Jin smiled at her.

"Were you looking for me?"

"No, but I'm happy to see you."

"So what were you looking for?"

"Food, perhaps somewhere to rest. Want to join me?"

Lily considered for a moment, and then smiled. There was a hint of seduction in her smile.

"I think there's some in here," she pushed the door of the staff quarters open. "And a couple of beds we could put together."

"Are you hinting at something, Lily?" Jin asked he followed her inside the room, closing the door behind him.

"I might be." Lily put her guns down, along with her combat vest. "We've got time, haven't we?"

"An hour or two, apparently." Jin told her. "How is your leg?"

"Not bad at all." Lily stepped closer to him. "So… what do you want to do?"

"That is a good question." Jin ran a hand through Lily's hair, stroking her cheek. "What do _you _want to do?"

Lily grinned at him and reached for the straps that held Jin's armour in place. "First things first…"

* * *

"So you like that gun now?" Walter folded his arms and shook his head.

"Last night was a good test run." Li was cleaning her new favourite weapon: the SAW she had used during the attack on the gym. "Yeah, I like it. It might take a while to reload, but it makes up for that in several ways. Besides, Ghost already gives us sniper support, I might as well provide covering fire."

"It just looks a little… big, clunky on you."

Li frowned. "Walter, I'm a soldier, I can handle it."

"There's a large arsenal in both trucks now." Ghost reminded Walter as he sauntered over, a couple of dead squirrels in one hand and his rifle in the other. "If you really want to replace your FAL that badly, and it's not a bad gun, then you have plenty to choose from."

Walter glanced at _Road Rage_. Fred was sitting on the tail gate, inspecting a Chinese T-93 assault rifle.

"Getting an upgrade, Fred?" Walter frowned.

"Maybe I deserve one." Fred shrugged. "I'll keep my SMG around just in case."

Walter rolled his eyes and walked off, muttering and lighting a cigarette.

"He likes his rifle really. He just doesn't care to admit it." Fred stated. "Don't tell him I said this, but he's not very good with anything else. He's only asking to borrow weapons because he wants to look butch."

"Well, I'm definitely keeping this." Li said, referring to the machinegun.

"Strong back?" Ghost gestured at the SAW and the M16 still slung across Li's back.

"Like I said: I'm a soldier. Strong backs are part of the job, kind of a perk."

Jill walked over. Unlike Fred and Li, she had stuck with her weapon, the MP5 was still on its sling and clattering against her armour, but she had picked up a spare pistol and some grenades. "Guys, I have an idea. It'll make the trucks hardier."

"Go on." Ghost prompted.

"It involves some metal sheeting round the back of the gym." Jill jerked her thumb to her right. "Where's Jin?"

"I don't know."

Jin glanced around. "Never mind."

"Never mind?"

"I haven't seen Lily either. I think I can guess why they've both disappeared." Jill shrugged. "Fred, go and grab some tools. And if you see Jin, tell him to give us a hand."

Ghost shrugged. "Whatever they're doing, I just hope that it doesn't dislodge Lily's bandage." He muttered.

"Are we running out?" Li asked.

"Not since we grabbed the supplies from the gym, no." Ghost shook his head. "Emily takes pride in her medical skills."

* * *

Emily finished copying the last few details from her Pip-Boy and handed the map to Bob. They had found a small group of prisoners inside the gym. According to two of them, there was a settlement not too far from the gym where they would be safe now that the Baggers were gone. They planned to transport the prisoners half-way, as the settlement lay on the path to the next state.

"Here," Mark handed over a few pistols, two rifles and a shotgun. "We can spare these." The prisoners already had enough food and water for the journey.

"Are you sure about this?" Bob asked.

"We can keep you safe." Mark answered. "Don't worry. We've got a lot of firepower."

"Well," Bob held out his hand. "I've never been one for hope, not since I was enslaved, but now I have something to live for."

Mark shook his hand. "We're happy to help. Good luck."

Mark suspected that there might be more Baggers or remnants of the group at the gym waiting for them, but he had no idea that Wasp and several Heaven's Devils were the ones waiting for them.

Jin turned up just in time to help Jill weld metal sheets onto the frames of the trucks. On the outside they looked unchanged, but on the inside they now had a sort of metal tunnel inside. Jin also added extra plating to the tail gates, giving the occupants more cover.

"How's the bandage?" Emily asked Lily quietly.

"Huh?"

Emily gave her a look. "Just checking. I did tell you to be careful, and sex is strenuous."

"It's still on." Lily sighed. "How did you know?"

"It's obvious. You disappeared with Jin for quite a while," Emily explained. "If people can figure out that Mark and I are intimately close, then they'll notice how close you are with Jin."

"Oh," Lily closed her eyes. "Walter won't let me live this down."

"Are you happy?"

"Yes."

"Then that's good." Emily smiled at her. "And I won't say anything, doctor-patient confidentiality."

"Thanks, Em."

* * *

Fewer people could sit in the trucks though, because of all the supplies they had picked up.

Li and Walter, along with Bob and two former prisoners were sitting in the back of _Road Rage_. Fred and Lily, along with the last of the Baggers' captives, had taken seats in _Sand King_. Mark and Emily were taking the lead again in _Bad Attitude_, with Mara and Ghost taking the rear in _Moody Bitch_. That left Jin to drive _Sand King _and Jill to drive _Road Rage_.

"It's a lovely evening for it." Jin remarked. "Everybody ready?"

"We're good to go." Mark confirmed. "All guns loaded, all vehicles fuelled and ready, we're ready."

Emily was on the turret, messing around with her Pip-Boy and humming to herself. She was forced to concentrate and grab the gun as the Humvee started to move.

Despite the potential dangers and the noise, it was kind of relaxing to feel the cool evening air waft past.

Emily ducked down into the cabin and rummaged around in her satchel for something to eat, finding a packet of sugar bombs. She chewed a couple, thinking in silence.

"Mind if I have some?" Mark asked.

Emily handed him the packet. "Here you go."

Mark glanced at her. "I know that face. That's your thinking face."

"We've taken out two bases the Heaven's Devils use," Emily told him. "I'm just wondering when they'll respond. They must have noticed by now."

"I understand." Mark nodded. "Go on."

"So they're either waiting for us, or they're following us."

"Or both."

The radio crackled.

"Mark? Can you hear me?" It was Mara.

"Yeah, go ahead." Mark confirmed.

"Ghost thought that he heard a bike engine, and saw lights behind us."

Mark blinked slowly. "Here we go again." He sighed. "Looks like you're right, Emily."

Emily clambered back onto the turret. Now she could hear the throbbing engine chops of choppers, along with the high whine of dirt-bikes.

No bullets yet though. All they could hear was the distant noise.

"They're toying with us." Mark realised. "Trying to scare us."

"They'll have to do better than that." Jill stated.

"They're corralling us too." Mara pointed out. "Look."

Mark could see the problem. They were being driven into another long, dried up riverbed. The vehicles could handle it, but the bikes would be able to attack from the sides along the slightly higher riverbanks.

"We're going to have to move fast." Jill radioed. "Otherwise they'll rip us apart."

"Seven o'clock!" Ghost shouted.

A pair of dirt-bikes had just zoomed up from behind them. Luckily, Ghost was ready for them.

One of the bikers was shredded almost immediately, but the second one veered away, sped up the slope and jumped over the bank.

"Bloody show-offs!" Ghost hissed. "Watch the flanks."

A flamboyantly painted dirt-bike, with stripes resembling those of a wasp, sped over the bank ahead of _Bad Attitude_. Its rider turned and aimed a familiar looking weapon at them.

Mark recalled Peter Webb and his MP-40, and now he also remembered that the Heaven's Devil named Wasp had taken the MP-40 from Peter's corpse.

Bullets clattered against the Humvee's front and protective glass.

Emily yelped, ducking down to avoid the hail of bullets. Mark noticed that a bullet had grazed her arm when he glanced at the rear view mirror, but he had no time to show concern.

Wasp veered away and back over the bank, probably to reload and pick a new target.

The choppers were sticking to the banks, they couldn't jump because they were too heavy, but the dirt-bikes were flitting around like bloatflies and were even more annoying.

One of them jumped over the bank and in front of _Moody Bitch_.

Ghost was shooting at the chopper on the right, and would have been killed if Lily hadn't opened fire on the dirt-bike and punctured its front tire.

The bike flipped forwards, sending its rider flying. Mara didn't stop and the unlucky Heaven's Devil was crushed by the Humvee.

Following Lily's example, Li took aim from her seat, despite the bumpy ride, and opened fire with her SAW. Fred and Walter seemed to have had the same idea.

Bob fired a few wild shots from the pistol they had given him. Luck was on his side for once, two Heaven's Devils had been aiming at him, but a bullet hit each of them.

Despite his bitching and habit of asking to borrow guns, Walter was an impressive shot. Not as good as Ghost, but he was hitting more bikers than he missed with his FAL.

Emily swung the turret around and minced a pair of bikers riding choppers along the left side.

_CLACK!_

Emily squeezed both triggers, but the guns refused to fire.

"Jammed!" She shouted down into the cabin.

"Here!" Mark reached back and found Emily's rifle. Emily took it and opened fire.

Mark wound down his window. It wasn't the smartest move, but he had to help Emily compensate for the loss of the miniguns.

A dirt bike jumped into position alongside the Humvee, not expecting Mark to poke his XM8 out of the window and mow him down.

Wasp jumped over the riverbed, firing as he flew over them, and landed on the other side.

Emily ducked down until Wasp finished firing. She activated VATS and fired a single shot at the target she could apparently hit: the bike's back wheel.

The rear tire caught fire after the laser boiled through the rubber. Wasp's bike veered crazily to the left and crashed into the bank.

"They're pulling out!" Jill radioed urgently. "What do we do?"

Mark slammed the brakes on, giving her the answer. The convoy rattled and rumbled to a halt.

Mara hopped out of _Moody Bitch_. She approached the spot where Wasp had fallen confidently.

A trio of bullets hit the ground around her and she ducked behind _Sand King_. She needn't have bothered though, Wasp's gun clicked empty when he tried to fire again.

He had broken several bones and was bleeding profusely. His face was barely recognisable through all the blood and a broken cheekbone.

"Is that all you've got?" He jeered. "You haven't got the balls to kill me? You're all too weak!"

There was a single shot.

Mara lowered her gun and frowned slightly as Fred fired another shot from his sidearm into Wasp's head.

Fred lowered his pistol and glanced at Mara. She nodded understandingly.

"Jin, we need you here." Mark radioed. "Our guns are jammed."

Everybody else remained wary and alert, listening and watching for any sign of attackers.

Jin assessed the guns as quickly as he could. He shook his head. "I can't see anything obvious. We can't fix them here, not now; we need to find somewhere safer to stop."

The Heaven's Devils had a bad sense of timing, at least from some perspectives.

Bullets hit the back of _Moody Bitch_. Ghost turned the guns around and opened fire.

Mara ran back to the Humvee and jumped in. They had no choice but to carry on without _Bad Attitude's _guns. Instead, just before they really had to leave, Li climbed into the Humvee to use her machinegun to compensate for the lack of miniguns. Emily sat in the passenger seat, aiming out of the window.

Mark put his foot down. He was glad that the guns had stopped working instead of the engine.

The remaining Heaven's Devils weren't putting up much of a fight and performed the odd hit-and-run attack. But they were hardly a threat, and kept getting shot whenever they appeared.

When they stopped, it was either because they were all dead or had given up.

Li remained in the turret for a few minutes, then climbed down and reloaded her SAW.

"We just killed one of Longbeard's inner circle, or whatever he calls his best cronies." Mark stated.

"Shall we celebrate?" Mara asked over the radio.

"Emily, any places we can stop?"

Emily surveyed the map on her Pip-Boy with a slight frown. "One. It's a place called Twenty-Stones."

Mark felt reluctant to stop in a "civilised" place. The events at Langins' Stop had made him a little paranoid.

"If we're going into a town, we're keeping our guns with us at all times." Jill seemed to have shared the same thought.

"Fine by me." Mark agreed. "Emily, you're navigating."

"Maybe we should get our own Pip-Boys and give Emily a rest." Li suggested.

"Good luck finding one."

Their plan to drop off Bob and the other prisoners had hit a snag, they knew that. Twenty-Stones was not on the path they needed to take, they had to head east.

"Bob wants to have a word." Jill reported.

The radio crackled as Bob took over. "Mark?"

"I'm here." Mark replied.

"If this Twenty-Stones place isn't full of gun-toting maniacs, me and the other prisoners are happy to be dropped off there instead."

"Okay." Mark acknowledged. "We've got to find it first though."

* * *

Twenty-Stones was not a hard place to find.

Mark saw its namesakes, twenty sculpted stones around the perimeter, as they came over the next hill.

He could see a series of prefabricated shelters outside of a small hill, with a tunnel cut into it.

"Emily," Mark pointed at the tunnel. "See that?"

Emily peered out of the windscreen and then saw what it was. "It's a Vault!"

"And those aren't more stones." Li pointed over Emily's shoulder. "Look."

Between the stones were automated turrets, autocannons and lasers.

"Maybe we should go somewhere else." Mark muttered.

Emily's Pip-Boy began to buzz. She had turned the radio off because there were no local radio stations to listen to, but now it was receiving a signal.

Emily frowned at the device as a garbled message wafted out of its speaker.

"Fellow Vault Dweller, we welcome you to Vault twenty. Please enter our settlement with our blessings."

"Sounds like an automated message." Mark noted. "It must go out to anybody wearing a Pip-Boy."

"Emily has the golden ticket then." Li added. "Why do you look so… anxious?"

Emily turned to look at Li. "What do you know about Vaults?"

Li shrugged. "They were pre-war fallout shelters. That's all I know."

"They were all experiments. Not the pleasant kind."

"Oh," Li blinked. "What was yours like?"

Emily shut her eyes and turned away. "I don't want to talk about it."

"It was that bad?"

Emily let out a breath. She knew that she couldn't keep holding back her past. So far, she had only told Mark, Ghost, Mara and Jin about Vault 117, but only Mark knew the whole story, she had just given the basics to the others.

"Vault one-one-seven was all about indoctrination, hypnosis, making people think certain things. It drove one of us to madness. Now I'm the only one left." Emily rubbed her forehead as if suddenly afflicted by a headache. "I still have nightmares, headaches, tinnitus; the side-effects of the experiments."

"My God," Li murmured. "Now I agree with Mark, we should avoid this place."

Mark was surprised that Emily was opening up more. It was true that she still suffered side-effects of Vault 117's experiments. She had rare bouts of tinnitus, a ringing sound in her ears, and occasional headaches. The nightmares were not as common as they once had been, but Mark was all too familiar with them.

"Is anybody else getting a sense of foreboding?" Jin radioed. "I think I can see a Vault."

"You can." Mark confirmed. "Emily and I want to steer clear of it."

"Me too." Li added.

"Opinions?"

"They haven't shot us yet." Mara observed. "But based on what we've heard and the Vault we've been in, I reckon that we should stay away."

"Don't we need to make repairs?" Jill pointed out. "We'll keep our guns with us."

Mark sighed. "Why don't we just vote then?"

The vote determined their next move. They would at least check Twenty-Stones, to see if it was friendly or at least neutral.

They needed shelter and time to make repairs anyway. After arguing about whether they should send just one of the Humvees ahead first, Mara put her foot down and they agreed to all go together.

Nevertheless, the two Humvees rumbled ahead. The automated guns of Twenty-Stones tracked them all the way in, but they didn't fire. That was a good sign, unless this was a trap.

Mark eased the brake on as they approached the prefabs.

A pair of robobrains rolled out to meet them, along with three people wearing pale blue jumpsuits. They looked a lot like Emily's jumpsuit, minus the armour and various additions.

Mark also noticed two guards wearing riot armour and armed with Wattz-2000 rifles.

"Have I ever mentioned how much robobrains freak me out?" Li muttered.

"Don't say it to these guys." Mark warned her. "They seem to like robots."

"Never mind the robots." Emily said. "Everybody here is carrying high-tech equipment."

Mark stopped the Humvee and slowly got out with Emily. He kept his hands within reach of his rifle.

One of the unarmed people, a woman in her late forties, approached them with her escorts.

"Welcome, travellers." She spoke warmly, like she was welcoming friends. "Normally we would be wary of strangers, but you look nothing like those awful Baggers."

"They won't bother you again." Mark stated. "We attacked their base last night."

"Then you have our thanks." The woman extended her hand. "I am Overseer Vera Bridges, of Vault Twenty, known to some as Twenty-Stones."

Mark shook her hand. Emily did the same, albeit it warily.

"You look nervous, fellow Vault Dweller." Bridges noted. "Which Vault are you from?"

"One-one-seven." Emily answered. "The Mojave."

"I look forwards to hearing about it."

Emily winced slightly. "I uh… I don't like to talk about it."

"Her Vault was destroyed a year ago." Mark left it at that.

"And I'm the only one left." Emily added sadly.

Bridge's expression softened. "Then I won't ask about your Vault." She glanced at the trucks slowly approaching the compound. "Tell your friends that they have nothing to fear from us."

Mark was glad that their hosts weren't shooting at them, but after the debacle at Langins' Stop he might have preferred a simple firefight.

He decided to follow Jill's advice and keep his firearms with him.

But they had almost forgotten about another threat hounding them.

* * *

_**Sorry about the shortness of this chapter. I'm shuffling plans around a bit.**_

_**Also, Inbredreindeer, you needn't worry about "red shirt" issues, I have some plans in motion to deal with that.**_


End file.
